OBJECTIVETo investigate the self-rated health status among Chinese residents in 2010.

METHODSData was from the Non-communicable Disease & Risk Factor Surveillance in China, 2010. A total of 98 638 adults aged ≥ 18 years were included in the study. Self-rated health was assessed by four questions: (1) Would you assess your health status as very good or good, general (not good/not poor), poor or very poor? (2) How many days was your health not good for physical illness during the past 30 days? (3) How many days was your health not good for injury during the past 30 days? (4) How many days was your health not good for mental illness, which include stress and problem with emotions depression during the past 30 days? After being weighed according to complex sampling scheme and post-stratification, the sample was used to estimate the prevalence of self-rated health. The Rao-scott χ(2) test with different samples was adopted for comparison among groups.

RESULTSIn total, 57.5% (95%CI:55.5%-59.5%) of the participants rated their health as being either very good or good, 36.2% (95%CI:34.5%-37.8%) as general, and only 6.3% (95%CI:5.7%-6.9%) as poor or very poor; In different age groups and gender, the differences were statistically significant (χ(2) values were 1179.88, 85.36, both P values were < 0.05) . The reported rate of poor or very poor health increased significantly with advancing age ranging from 2.0% (95%CI:1.5%-2.4%)in 18-24 year-old group to 14.9% (95%CI:12.6%-17.2%) in ≥ 75 year-old group; Females were more likely than males to rate their health as poor or very poor , respectively (7.2%; 95%CI 6.5%-7.9% and 5.4%; 95%CI:4.9%-5.9%). During the past 30 days 18.5% (95%CI:17.1%-19.8%) of the participants was not in good health for physical illness. The reported rate of physical illness increased significantly with advancing age (χ(2) = 211.99, P < 0.01), and it was the lowest in 25-34 year-old group (15.4%; 95%CI:13.7%-17.0%), and the highest in ≥ 75 year-old group (28.3%; 95%CI:24.9%-31.6%) . It was statistically higher among females (21.1%; 95%CI:19.5%-22.6%) compared to males (15.9%; 95%CI:14.6%-17.3%) (χ(2) = 231.81, P < 0.01); the reported rates of physical illness were 17.4% (95%CI:15.3%-19.5%) among residents in the east region, 17.2% (95%CI:14.7%-19.6%) in the middle region, and 21.5% (95%CI:18.7%-24.4%) in the western region(χ(2) = 6.75, P < 0.01). During the past 30 days 2.7% (95%CI:2.3%-3.2%) of the participants was not in good health for injure. The reported rate of injure decreased significantly with advancing age (χ(2) = 25.54, P < 0.01), and it was the highest in 18-24 year-old group (3.8%; 95%CI:2.6%-5.0%), and the lowest in 35-44 year-old group (2.3%; 95%CI:1.8%-2.7%) . It was statistically higher among males (3.0%; 95%CI:2.4%-3.5%) compared to females (2.5%; 95%CI:2.1%-2.9%) (χ(2) = 8.89 P < 0.01) ; the reported rates of injure were 2.3% (95%CI:1.9%-2.7%) among residents in the east region , 2.1% (1.7%-2.4%) in the middle region, and 4.1% (95%CI:2.6%-5.6%) in the west region (χ(2) = 16.26, P < 0.01). During the past 30 days 10.0% (95%CI:8.8%-11.3%) of the participants was not in good health for mental illness. The reported rate of mental illness decreased significantly with advancing age (χ(2) = 92.14 P < 0.01), and it was the highest in 18-24 year-old group (12.9%; 95%CI: 10.6%-15.2%), and the lowest in ≥ 75 year-old group (5.7%; 95%CI: 4.4%-7.0%) .It was statistically higher among females (10.8%; 95%CI:9.5%-12.1%) than males (9.2%; 95%CI:7.9%-10.5%) (χ(2) = 21.59, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe self-rated health status among Chinese residents was good in 2010. Substantial variation exists in self-rated health status across age groups, between genders, and across regions. Considering these disparities will be important for developing health policy and allocating resources.