Perceived discrimination and self-rated health in Canada: an exploratory study

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Tonia Forte¹  Janice Du Mont² 

[1] Women’s College Research Institute, Women’s College Hospital, 76 Grenville Street, 6th Floor, M5S 1B2, Toronto, ON, Canada;Women’s College Research Institute, Women’s College Hospital, 76 Grenville Street, 6th Floor, M5S 1B2, Toronto, ON, Canada;Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;

关键词: Self-rated health;    Perceived discrimination;    Intimate partner violence;    Prevalence;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-016-3344-y

 received in 2015-11-28, accepted in 2016-06-20,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundOur objective was to explore whether the link between discrimination and self-rated health status differed as a function of discrimination type, including discrimination based on ethnicity/culture, race, physical appearance (other than skin colour), religion, age, and disability.MethodsA sample of 19,422 men and women aged 15 and older was included in this study. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to measure the association between perceived discrimination types and self-reported health status defined as excellent/good versus fair/poor.ResultsThe prevalence of experiencing any discrimination in the past five years was higher among those who rated their health as fair or poor (21.8 %) compared to those who rated their health as excellent or good (14.5 %, p < 0.0001). After controlling for all other covariates, there was a positive association between poorer self-rated health and two of the six specific discrimination variables entered into the model: perceived discrimination based on physical appearance (other than skin colour) (OR = 1.79, 95 % CI: 1.24, 2.58) and perceived discrimination based on a having a disability (OR = 1.59, 95 % CI: 1.04, 2.41).ConclusionsOur main findings indicate that perceived discrimination based on physical appearance and disability may have an adverse impact on health. The results highlight the need for a comprehensive approach to improving health outcomes that should include policies that are targeted against specific types of discrimination.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2016