Factors Associated with Self-Rated Health: A Multi-Country Longitudinal Study

Philip A. Anglewicz, Johns Hopkins University
Carolina Cardona, Johns Hopkins University
Audrey Yao, Johns Hopkins University

Self-rated health is a valuable and compelling indicator, but little is known about patterns of reporting self-rated health in low- and middle-income contexts. This is primarily due to data limitations: few large-scale studies have longitudinal panel data that includes self-rated health, and many prominent surveys in LMICs have not included a question on self-rated health until recently. In this research, we use data from eight LMIC countries (Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Uganda, India, and Niger) to understand cross-national patterns of self-rated health. This study is primarily descriptive, capturing the factors that are associated with self-rated health across a range of settings, to better understand how people understand and report their overall health. To do so, we use both cross-sectional and longitudinal panel data to compare how these differently identify the factors that contribute to self-rated health.