Bradshaw Matt, Kent Blake Victor, Levin Jeff, Wortham Jennifer Susan, Pertel Noémie Le, VanderWeele Tyler J, Johnson Byron R
Institute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97326, Waco, TX, 76798-7326, USA.
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
BMC Glob Public Health. 2025 Apr 30;3(1):38. doi: 10.1186/s44263-025-00141-1.
Relatively few studies have examined how self-rated physical health (SRH) varies across: (a) countries around the world and (b) demographic characteristics in diverse nations and cultures.
The current study addresses these issues by providing a cross-national random effects meta-analysis of SRH using data from the Global Flourishing Study (GFS), an international survey of 202,898 individuals from 22 geographically, economically, and culturally diverse countries collected in 2022-2023.
On a scale of 0-10 (0 = poor and 10 = excellent), the mean SRH ranged from 5.97 in Japan to 8.29 in Indonesia. Three of the four largest SRH means were found in developing, non-Western countries (Indonesia, Nigeria, and Kenya), while the five lowest were in economically developed nations (Germany, Australia, Sweden, the UK, and Japan). Countries also differed in the degree of variation around the mean. SRH was more evenly dispersed in nations like Israel, Poland, and the USA and more unequally distributed in places like Egypt, Tanzania, and India. SRH also varied across demographic characteristics. Results from a random effects meta-analysis of all 22 countries showed that SRH varied across age, gender, marital status, employment, education, religious service attendance, and immigration status in at least some countries. In general, SRH tended to be higher among: (a) younger individuals; (b) males; (c) those who were single/never married, married, or had domestic partnerships (compared with other groups such as widowed, divorced, or separated); (d) employed individuals and students; (e) people with more years of education; and (f) those who attended religious services. There was considerable heterogeneity across countries in the associations between demographic characteristics and SRH, however, suggesting that country-level contexts are important. Results were similar when weighted based on the population size in each country.
While being mindful of challenges due to varying cultural contexts and possible interpretations and translations of key survey questions, findings suggest substantial variation in SRH across countries and meaningful demographic characteristics. This study lays the foundation for future longitudinal GFS studies on the causes and correlates of SRH in a global context.
相对较少的研究考察了自我评定的身体健康状况（SRH）在以下方面的差异：（a）世界各国；（b）不同国家和文化中的人口特征。
本研究通过对全球繁荣研究（GFS）的数据进行跨国随机效应荟萃分析来解决这些问题。GFS是一项在2022 - 2023年对来自22个地理、经济和文化各异国家的202,898个人进行的国际调查。
在0至10分的量表上（0 = 差，10 = 优），自我评定的身体健康状况平均得分从日本的5.97分到印度尼西亚的8.29分不等。四个最高的自我评定的身体健康状况平均得分中有三个出现在发展中、非西方国家（印度尼西亚、尼日利亚和肯尼亚），而五个最低的出现在经济发达国家（德国、澳大利亚、瑞典、英国和日本）。各国在平均得分周围的变异程度也有所不同。自我评定的身体健康状况在以色列、波兰和美国等国家分布更为均匀，而在埃及、坦桑尼亚和印度等地分布更为不均。自我评定的身体健康状况在人口特征方面也存在差异。对所有22个国家进行的随机效应荟萃分析结果表明，在至少一些国家中，自我评定的身体健康状况在年龄、性别、婚姻状况、就业、教育、宗教服务参与情况和移民身份等方面存在差异。总体而言，自我评定的身体健康状况在以下人群中往往较高：（a）年轻人；（b）男性；（c）单身/未婚、已婚或有家庭伴侣的人（与丧偶、离异或分居等其他群体相比）；（d）就业人员和学生；（e）受教育年限较长的人；（f）参加宗教服务的人。然而，在人口特征与自我评定的身体健康状况之间的关联上，各国存在相当大的异质性，这表明国家层面的背景很重要。根据每个国家的人口规模加权后的结果相似。
尽管要注意由于文化背景不同以及关键调查问题可能存在的解释和翻译问题所带来的挑战，但研究结果表明，自我评定的身体健康状况在各国以及有意义的人口特征方面存在很大差异。本研究为未来全球背景下关于自我评定的身体健康状况的原因及相关因素的纵向全球繁荣研究奠定了基础。
