A hierarchical Bayesian approach for identifying socioeconomic factors influencing self-rated health in Japan

This study identifies socioeconomic factors that potentially influence self-rated health (SRH), an important indicator of health status, in the Japanese population. We used a panel data logit model to simultaneously estimate the effects of personal attributes, living environment, and social conditions. To achieve a stable estimation of the panel data logit model, we applied hierarchical Bayesian modeling and the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method to obtain its estimation. Furthermore, we used the ancillary-sufficiency interweaving strategy (ASIS) algorithm to improve the efficiency of the MCMC method for the panel data logit model. The results indicate that SRH within the Japanese population is affected by demographic and socioeconomic factors (e.g., age, marital status, educational background, and employment status) and daily habits such as frequency of drinking alcohol. We also obtained results that differed from previous studies in the research literature. Differences in the national character among countries may be reflected in these results. Since SRH is a subjective measure of health status and often differs from actual health status, it is crucial to remove the influences of the national character on SRH in evaluating the actual health status of individuals within a population. The study findings provide important insights into addressing these factors to understand SRH in the Japanese context better.