American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 93, No. 5: 328-336
Copyright © 1971 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health
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MEASUREMENT OF PHYSICAL HEALTH IN A GENERAL POPULATION SURVEY1
2Human Population Laboratory
3Department of Preventive & Social Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles Calif. 90024
4Human Population Laboratory
Belloc, N. B., L Breslow and J. R. Hochstim (Calif. State Dept. Public Health, Berkeley 94704). Measurement of physical health in a general population survey. Amer J Epidem 93: 328–336, 1971.—This paper presents a new and more general approach to the measurement of health in a population. In a survey of a sample of the adult population of Alameda County, California, in 1965, respondents were asked a number of questions regarding disability, chronic conditions, symptoms and energy level. From their responses, they have been categorized along a physical health spectrum ranging from a minimum state defined by inability to work and/or care for personal needs, to an optimal state expressed by no complaints and a high level of energy. The summary measure, the mean ridit, utilizes the distribution along the entire spectrum, enables the comparison of subgroups within the population, and allows for adjustment of differences due to selected characteristics, such as age and sex. The health of population subgroups was examined for selected demographic variables, including race, occupation, education, employment and marital status. There was a marked linear relationship with age, the mean ridit for the oldest group being nearly double that of the youngest group. Men were slightly more healthy than women, and those with inadequate family incomes were less healthy than those with marginal or adequate incomes.
age; educational status; health surveys; income; marital status; occupations; race; ridit analysis
1From the Human Population Laboratory, California State Department of Public Health, 2151 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, Calif. 94704. This study was supported by Research Grant HS 00368 from the U.S. Public Health Service.
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