DETERMINANTS OF INDIVIDUALS' PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR OWN HEALTH STATES

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the perception that Brazilian individuals have about their own health status, given the different individual aspects. In this case, the explanatory variables are the level of income, sex, race, age, occupation and chronic diseases of each individual. This study is done empirically, based on the National Survey by Household Sampling (PNAD) of 2008. First, we implement an analysis of concentration of causes related to good health, deriving the decomposition of Theil T indexes and the gross rate of contribution. The second step is to estimate a probabilistic model with the earlier explanatory variables and the dependent variable defined as the self-assessment about good health. The results of the Theil index showed that some features are concentrated in those individuals who claim to be in poor health, such that the fact of this being a woman and not be contributing to any pension fund. Some diseases also showed concentrated on those individuals, such as hypertension, diabetes and depression. The result of the probabilistic model, in turn, reinforced the fact that individuals with chronic diseases have a poor perception of their health status. Therefore, public policies on prevention of chronic diseases, prioritizing the elderly, improved logistics structure and growth of the educational level are required to improve the feeling of the individual being in a good state of health.