Residents' perception of living environments and self-rated health status

Abstract

The relationship between health status and living environment conditions among residents of high-rise housing massifs and individual households was assessed by means of a questionnaire survey-interviewing. Results determined that residents of multi-story buildings had a greater number of individuals classified as frequently ill, but the differences were not significant because of the wide variation in age and gender: 40.9±12.9% (multi-story buildings) and 21.5±2.4% (Individual households), t=1.4, P>0.05. Responding to the question about what citizens attribute the likelihood of their illnesses to, the majority of respondents answered that it is related to unfavorable living conditions (53.8±13.0% of residents of multi-story buildings and 54.8±14.2% of residents of individual houses, P>0.05). The greatest number of respondents considered it necessary to improve recreational opportunities, ranging from 46.8% to 60.6%, with such wishes being more common among those over 55 years of age. Individuals of younger age, especially those living in an array of multi-story buildings, more often express the need for sports fields or complexes.