title: Determinants of self-rated health of Warsaw inhabitants.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Self-rated health is a one-point measure commonly used for recognising subjectively perceived health and covering a wide range of individual's health aspects.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of our study was to examine the extent to which self-rated health reflects the differences due to demographic characteristics, physical, psychical and social well-being, health disorders, occurrence of chronic disease and negative life events in Polish social and cultural conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected by non-addressed questionnaire methods from 402 Warsaw inhabitants. The questionnaire contained the questions concerning self-rated health, physical, psychical and social well-being, the use of health care services, occurrence of chronic disease and contact with negative life events.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analysis showed that worse self-rated health increased exponentially with age and less sharply with lower level of education. Pensioners were more likely to assess their own health worse then employed or students. Such difference was not found for unemployed. Compared to married, the self-rated health of divorced or widowed respondents was lower. Gender does not differentiate self-rated health. In regard to well-being, self-rated health linearly decreased for physical well-being, for social and, especially, for psychical well-being the differences were significant, but more complicated. Hospitalisation, especially repeated, strongly determined worse self-rated health. In contrast, relationship between self-rated health and sickness absence or frequency of contact with physician were lower. Chronic diseases substantially increased the risk of poorer self-rated health, and their co-morbidity increased the risk exponentially. The patients with cancer were the group, in which the risk several times exceeded that reported for the patients of other diseases. Regarding negative life events, only experience with violence and financial difficulties were resulted in worse self-rated health.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings confirmed the usefulness of self-rated health for public health research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion and Postgraduate Education, National Institute of Public Health - National Institute of Hygiene in Warsaw. psupranowicz@pzh.gov.pl
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Supranowicz
authors.forename: Mirosław J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Wysocki
authors.forename: Justyna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Car
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Debska
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gebska-Kuczerowska
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D011788:Quality of Life; D057566:Self Report; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult