title: Association between political ideology and health in Europe.
abstract: Studies have largely examined the association between political ideology and health at the aggregate/ecological level. Using individual-level data from 29 European countries, we investigated whether self-reports of political ideology and health are associated. In adjusted models, we found an inverse association between political ideology and self-rated poor health; for a unit increase in the political ideology scale (towards right) the odds ratio (OR) for reporting poor health decreased (OR 0.95, 95% confidence interval 0.94-0.96). Although political ideology per se is unlikely to have a causal link to health, it could be a marker for health-promoting latent attitudes, values and beliefs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA. svsubram@hsph.harvard.edu
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Subramanian
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Huijts
authors.forename: Jessica M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Perkins
mesh_terms: D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D011057:Politics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors