Determinants of subjective health status: Neighborhood environmental health, perception of physical health, and mental well-being

This study aims to determine the influence of the factors affecting subjective health (SH) neighborhood environmental health (NEH), mental well-being (MWB) and perception of physical health (PPH)). A second objective is to examine the impact of the abovementioned three health conditions, together with subjective health, on the total service utilization. The data used in the analyses are obtained from the Turkey Health Survey 2019 microdata published by TurkStat. The data reflect subjective health status. Analyses were conducted with the subjective health data of 15985 individuals. According to the analysis results, it was determined that perception of physical health and mental well-being have a mediating role in the effect of NEH on SH. In addition, a one-level change in perception of physical health variable increases the level of deterioration in subjective health by 4.6 times. A one-level change in mental health increases the level of deterioration in subjective health 13.5 times. A one-level change in neighborhood health increases the level of deterioration in subjective health by 1.14 times. It is suggested that health policymakers should develop feasible alternative instruments in line with the above findings when designing strategies to improve the quality of subjective health.