Self-Rated Health in the Baltic Countries, 1994–1999

Santé subjective dans les Pays Baltes, 1994–1999
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Abstract

Numerous studies have examined the explanations of mortality fluctuations in the former USSR during the last decade of the twentieth century—a time of considerable political and socio-economic changes—but fewer studies have considered the health of these populations during this period. Using individual data from the Norbalt surveys held in 1994 and 1999 in the three Baltic countries, we examine the determinants of self-rated health in the three countries and for the two periods, by way of Bayesian structural equation modelling and directed acyclic graphs. The model takes into account, as possible determinants, alcohol consumption, physical health, psychological distress, education, locus of control, and social support. A major result is the remarkable stability of the model’s parameters whatever the country, year, gender, ethnicity, or age-group. Particular attention is given to the role of alcohol consumption and to the association observed between better self-assessed health and higher drinking.

Keywords

Self-rated health Baltic countries Structural equation modelling Alcohol consumption 

Résumé

De nombreuses études se sont intéressées aux causes possibles des fluctuations de mortalité observées en ex-URSS au cours de la dernière décennie du 20e siècle, période de grands bouleversements politiques et socio-économiques, mais peu se sont penchées sur la santé de ces populations durant cette période. A partir des données individuelles des enquêtes Norbalt qui se sont déroulées en 1994 et 1999 dans les trois pays Baltes, les déterminants de la santé subjective sont examinés dans les trois pays et pour les deux périodes, à l’aide d’un modèle structurel Bayésien à équations multiples et de graphes acycliques dirigés. Les déterminants possibles inclus dans le modèle sont la consommation d’alcool, la santé physique, la détresse psychologique, l’instruction, le locus de contrôle et le soutien social. On constate une remarquable stabilité des paramètres du modèle quels que soient le pays, l’année, le sexe, l’appartenance ethnique ou le groupe d’âge. Le rôle de la consommation d’alcool et l’existence d’une association entre une meilleure santé subjective et une consommation d’alcool plus élevée font l’objet d’une attention particulière.

Mots-clés

Santé subjective pays Baltes modèle structurel à équations multiples consommation d’alcool 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

Among others, comments by the Editors, and by Domantas Jasilionis, Peter Jozan, Michel Loriaux and two anonymous reviewers, are gratefully acknowledged. The Norbalt data have been obtained thanks to The Institute for Applied Social Science in Oslo (FAFO).

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.DemographyUniversity of LouvainLouvain-la-NeuveBelgium

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