Combined effects of education level and perceived social class on self-rated health and life satisfaction: Results of Korean labor and income panel study wave 8-wave 15.

Jae-Hyun Kim,Tae Hyun Kim,Ki-Bong Yoo,Eun-Cheol Park,Sang Gyu Lee

doi:10.1186/s12955-015-0375-5

Jae-Hyun Kim, Tae Hyun Kim + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-015-0375-5

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Abstract

BackgroundTo examine the combined effects of education level and perceived social class on self-rated health and life satisfaction in South Korea.MethodsWe used data drawn from the 8 to 15th wave of the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS). Using wave 8 at baseline, data included 11,175 individuals. We performed a longitudinal analysis at baseline estimating the prevalence of self-rated health and life satisfaction among individuals by education level (high, middle, and low education level) and perceived social class (high, middle, and low social class).ResultsFor self-rated health, odds ratio (OR) of individuals with low education and low perceived social class was 0.604 times lower (95 % CI: 0.555–0.656) and the OR of individuals with low education and middle perceived social class was 0.853 time lower (95 % CI: 0.790–0.922) when compared to individuals with high education and high perceived social class. For life satisfaction, OR of individuals with low education and low perceived social class was 0.068 times lower (95 % CI: 0.063–0.074) and the OR of individuals with middle education and middle perceived social class was 0.235 time lower (95 % CI: 0.221–0.251) compared to individuals with high education and high perceived social class.ConclusionsThis study shows that the combined effects of education level and perceived social class associated with self-rated health and life satisfaction. Our study suggests increasing education level and perceived social class. Additionally, it will be important to develop multi-dimensional measurement tools including education level and subjective social class.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12955-015-0375-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

To examine the combined effects of education level and perceived social class on self-rated health and life satisfaction in South Korea
Because education is typically completed early in adulthood, it serves as a marker of early life circumstances [27], and no reverse-causation problems result from linking education with health outcomes
Our analysis suggests that it is important to consider the impact of the combined effects on self-rated health and life satisfaction by simultaneously considering education level and perceived social class, as opposed to considering only perceived social class

Summary

Introduction

To examine the combined effects of education level and perceived social class on self-rated health and life satisfaction in South Korea. Demographic, economic, and behavioural risk factors play an integral part in shaping one’s health and life satisfaction. These factors known as ‘social determinants of. Multiple studies demonstrate that perceived social class continues to predict health once traditional measures of SES, like income and education, have been taken into account [6, 7]. The SES gradient in health has been studied widely, how social class causes poorer health is not clear. This may be, in part, because social class has been defined as SES, which is an external, purely objective measure that does not account for subjective, internalised perceived social class

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