Multilevel analysis of effects of  individual characteristics and  household factors on self-rated  health among older adults in  rural Vietnam.
OBJECTIVE
This paper aims to describe self-rated health (SRH) status among older adults in a rural community of Vietnam, and examine individual and household-level factors associated with good health rating among the study populations.


METHODS
The study was carried out in the Bavi district, a rural community located 60 km west of Hanoi, the capital, within the Epidemiological Field Laboratory of Bavi (FilaBavi) in Vietnam in 2006. All people aged 50 years and over who lived within the district were surveyed. Face-to-face household interviews were conducted by trained surveyors using standard World Health Organization/INDEPTH network questionnaire- summary version. A logistic multilevel modeling approach was applied to analyze the association between SRH and both individual and household-level factors.


RESULTS
The proportion of people aged 50 years and older in FilaBavi reported having good/very good health and poor/very poor health was 15.1% and 24.8%, respectively. SRH status was reported to be better among: (i) men; (ii) younger people; (iii) people with higher education; (iv) people who were currently in marital a partnership; (v) those from wealthier households; and (vi) those who were living in riverside/island or highland areas compared to those of other categories of the same variable.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings reveal that there exist problems of inequality in health among older adults in the study setting by sex, age, education, wealth status and place of residence. We also found a considerable contribution of the household-level factors to SRH of the study populations.
Faculty of Public Health, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam. hvminh71@yahoo.com
Hoang
H
Van Minh
Peter
P
Byass
Stig
S
Wall
D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003906:Developing Countries; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012424:Rural Population; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014744:Vietnam / Q000453:epidemiology