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Hindi Research Article
Assessing Whether Americans are Aware of the Nation’s Declining Health Ranking
Lindsay GB*, Merrill R, Thackeray R and Sloan CDepartment of Health Science, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA
- *Corresponding Author:
- Gordon Bangerter Lindsay
Department of Health Science
Brigham Young University, Provo
Utah, USA
Tel: 801 422 3404, Fax: 801 4220004
E-mail: gordon_lindsay@byu.edu
Received date: October 25, 2016; Accepted date: November 24, 2016; Published date: November 26, 2016
Citation: 2016 Lindsay GB, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Copyright: © 2016 Montalto M. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Purpose: Identify the extent Americans are aware of the United States’ declining health rankings compared with 16 Western democracies, and assess people's explanation for the U.S. decline.
Methods: Participants in a national survey ranked U.S. life expectancy against that of 16 referent countries. Participants indicated whether the U.S. health ranking had risen, fallen or stayed the same since 1985. After being subsequently informed U.S. life expectancy was the lowest of the 16 countries and the U.S. ranking has steadily declined, participants identified which factor best explained the US health disadvantage.
Results: Most participants (55.3%) believed U.S. life expectancy was “at or near the top” or “above the middle.” They also believed U.S. health rankings have risen or stayed the same since 1985. The misperception of superior U.S. health was most highly correlated with political orientation, with Liberals tending to give the U.S. lower health ranking. Most participants attributed the poor ranking to lifestyle and healthcare-related factors. Social determinants of health and environmental factors were infrequently identified as reasons for the poorer ranking.
Conclusion: Americans have a highly inflated perception of the country’s health rankings compared with other Western democracies
