Influence of Social Determinants on Self-Rated Health in Three Countries of East Asia

This study aims to compare five domains of social determinants and their associations with self-rated health (SRH) among older adults in China, Japan, and Korea, where they share some cultural values but the development and conditions of economic status, health care system, and education system vary. A total of 10,111 participants aged 65 years and older were included from three harmonized datasets at baseline CHARLS, KLoSA, and JSTAR. Guided by the Healthy People 2020 Framework, five domains of social determinants were included: education levels, economic stability (total income, working for pay), social and community context (social engagement, living with children), health care access (medical center utilization), and neighborhood (rural vs. urban). Regression models showed that working for pay, social engagement, and medical center utilization were significant predictors for SRH in three countries. However, unique predictors have also been observed in China and Korea, which will be discussed in the presentation.