The role of education in explaining trends in selfrated health in the United States, 1972–2018

Abstract

BACKGROUND The percentage of older adults in the United States reporting being in good health has increased since the 1980s. OBJECTIVE This study tries to explain long-term trends in self-rated health in the United States. METHODS We used 47 years of repeated cross-sectional data from the National Health Interview Survey to estimate regression models that predict trends in self-rated health. RESULTS Our results show that the improvement in self-rated health of men as well as women aged 50–84 is largely explained by gains in educational attainment. Self-rated health has slightly improved among those with post-secondary education, while it did not improve among those without post-secondary education. CONTRIBUTION This study is one of the few to try to explain long-term trends in self-rated health. It does so for a much longer period of time than any previous study.