Evaluating clinical and demographic influences on health perception: A translation of the SF-12 for use with NHANES

Improving public health depends on an intricate understanding of the factors that influence how individuals perceive and self-report their personal health. Self-perceived health is an independent predictor of future health-related outcomes, but capturing self-perception of health is complex due to t...

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Main Authors: Elise C. Covert, Anna M. Baker, Owais Gilani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2022-06-01
Series:SSM: Population Health
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235282732200060X
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author Elise C. Covert
Anna M. Baker
Owais Gilani
author_facet Elise C. Covert
Anna M. Baker
Owais Gilani
author_sort Elise C. Covert
collection DOAJ
description Improving public health depends on an intricate understanding of the factors that influence how individuals perceive and self-report their personal health. Self-perceived health is an independent predictor of future health-related outcomes, but capturing self-perception of health is complex due to the intricate relationship between clinical and perceived health. A commonly used measure of self-perceived health is the Short Form 12 (SF-12), developed in the 1990s. In this study, we aim to evaluate clinical and demographic influences on self-perceived health among American adults using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). While NHANES captures information on a number of domains of health, including clinical assessments, it does not include SF-12 items necessary to measure self-perceived health. Therefore, to assess self-perceived health for our study, we constructed and validated a novel SF-12-equivalent measure for use with NHANES using analogous items from the 2015–2016 NHANES interview questionnaires. The developed measure reflects established knowledge of population health patterns and closely parallels the behavior of the original SF-12. An analysis of the clinical and demographic influences on this novel measure of health perception revealed that both clinical and demographic factors, such as depression status and race, influence how healthy individuals perceive themselves to be. Importantly, our analysis indicated that among American adults, while controlling for clinical and demographic covariates, an increase in low-density lipoprotein (i.e., “bad”) cholesterol level was associated with an improvement in self-perceived health. This study contributes significantly in two domains: it provides a novel measure of self-perceived health compatible for use with the widely used NHANES data (as well as details on how the process was developed), and it identifies a critical area in need of improved clinical education regarding the apparent confusion around cholesterol health.
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spelling doaj.art-e6c0bfda2e704e70ab5cf3f1747fe2752022-12-22T00:58:43ZengElsevierSSM: Population Health2352-82732022-06-0118101081Evaluating clinical and demographic influences on health perception: A translation of the SF-12 for use with NHANESElise C. Covert0Anna M. Baker1Owais Gilani2Department of Mathematics, Bucknell University, 1 Dent Drive, Lewisburg, PA, 17837, USADepartment of Psychology, Bucknell University, 1 Dent Drive, Lewisburg, PA, 17837, USADepartment of Mathematics, Bucknell University, 1 Dent Drive, Lewisburg, PA, 17837, USA; Corresponding author. Bucknell University, 1 Dent Drive, Lewisburg, PA, 17837, USA.Improving public health depends on an intricate understanding of the factors that influence how individuals perceive and self-report their personal health. Self-perceived health is an independent predictor of future health-related outcomes, but capturing self-perception of health is complex due to the intricate relationship between clinical and perceived health. A commonly used measure of self-perceived health is the Short Form 12 (SF-12), developed in the 1990s. In this study, we aim to evaluate clinical and demographic influences on self-perceived health among American adults using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). While NHANES captures information on a number of domains of health, including clinical assessments, it does not include SF-12 items necessary to measure self-perceived health. Therefore, to assess self-perceived health for our study, we constructed and validated a novel SF-12-equivalent measure for use with NHANES using analogous items from the 2015–2016 NHANES interview questionnaires. The developed measure reflects established knowledge of population health patterns and closely parallels the behavior of the original SF-12. An analysis of the clinical and demographic influences on this novel measure of health perception revealed that both clinical and demographic factors, such as depression status and race, influence how healthy individuals perceive themselves to be. Importantly, our analysis indicated that among American adults, while controlling for clinical and demographic covariates, an increase in low-density lipoprotein (i.e., “bad”) cholesterol level was associated with an improvement in self-perceived health. This study contributes significantly in two domains: it provides a novel measure of self-perceived health compatible for use with the widely used NHANES data (as well as details on how the process was developed), and it identifies a critical area in need of improved clinical education regarding the apparent confusion around cholesterol health.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235282732200060XSelf-perceived healthSelf-rated healthMeasureShort Form 12National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
spellingShingle Elise C. Covert
Anna M. Baker
Owais Gilani
Evaluating clinical and demographic influences on health perception: A translation of the SF-12 for use with NHANES
SSM: Population Health
Self-perceived health
Self-rated health
Measure
Short Form 12
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
title Evaluating clinical and demographic influences on health perception: A translation of the SF-12 for use with NHANES
title_full Evaluating clinical and demographic influences on health perception: A translation of the SF-12 for use with NHANES
title_fullStr Evaluating clinical and demographic influences on health perception: A translation of the SF-12 for use with NHANES
title_full_unstemmed Evaluating clinical and demographic influences on health perception: A translation of the SF-12 for use with NHANES
title_short Evaluating clinical and demographic influences on health perception: A translation of the SF-12 for use with NHANES
title_sort evaluating clinical and demographic influences on health perception a translation of the sf 12 for use with nhanes
topic Self-perceived health
Self-rated health
Measure
Short Form 12
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235282732200060X
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