Do health behaviour and psychosocial risk factors explain the European east-west gap in health status?
BACKGROUND
Mortality rates are much more favourable in Western European countries than in those of Eastern Europe. Health behaviour and psychosocial factors have been suggested to be important contributors to East-West differences in mortality and health status.


METHODS
To compare reported health status as well as health behaviours and psychosocial factors which may be related to unequal health status in different parts of Europe, standardised postal surveys of representative populations samples were conducted in six Eastern and Western European areas.


RESULTS
Higher mortality in the eastern populations was associated with more reported morbidity and generally more negative health ratings. Health behaviours and psychosocial factors were also more negative in the East. Multivariate analyses suggested that the East-West difference in health status may be partly explained by differences in health behaviours and psychosocial factors.


CONCLUSIONS
Efforts to promote health in Eastern Europe should concentrate both on the promotion of healthier lifestyles and on improvement of social and economic conditions.
National Public Health Institute, Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, Mannerheimintie 166, FIN-00300 Helsinki, Finland.
M
M
Laaksonen
A L
AL
McAlister
T
T
Laatikainen
W
W
Drygas
E
E
Morava
E
E
Nüssel
R
R
Oganov
H
H
Pardell
M
M
Uhanov
P
P
Puska
D000328:Adult; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005061:Europe, Eastern / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D011584:Psychology; D012307:Risk Factors