Relationships among indicators of morbidity: Cross national comparisons

Abstract

The covariation of conceptually different indicators of general morbidity and selected symptom states was examined on the basis of data from a cross national interview survey in twelve study areas in seven countries (WHO/ICS-MCU). Indicators of disability days in the past two weeks, other health problem in the past two weeks, chronic illness, specific symptoms, vision problem, dental problem, and anxiety were used. First, the correlations among the indicators were examined within each study area. Second, the patterns of the correlations were compared across the study areas. Third, the indicators of morbidity were related separately to age and sex, and the resulting patterns of correlations were compared across the study areas. The results of the study suggest that in general there is a low level of relationship among the specific indicators in all the study areas. Morbidity conditions and symptoms increase slightly with age and are somewhat more frequent among females than males in all areas. When the measurement is based on semantically equivalent measures in several different languages, the patterns of the relationships are much alike among adult populations in urban and rural areas of industrialized countries in the Americas and in Europe.