Political regimes, political ideology, and self-rated health in Europe: a multilevel analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Studies on political ideology and health have found associations between individual ideology and health as well as between ecological measures of political ideology and health. Individual ideology and aggregate measures such as political regimes, however, were never examined simultaneously.

Methodology/principal findings

Using adjusted logistic multilevel models to analyze data on individuals from 29 European countries and Israel, we found that individual ideology and political regime are independently associated with self-rated health. Individuals with rightwing ideologies report better health than leftwing individuals. Respondents from Eastern Europe and former Soviet republics report poorer health than individuals from social democratic, liberal, Christian cons

SUBMITTER: Huijts T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2908625 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature