| dc.description.abstract | Background The study is a part of a larger project on mental health and domestic violence. Myanmar struggle with poor health outcomes which are unevenly distributed by socio-demographic factors. Aim The aim is to estimate the prevalence of good self-reported health by socio-demographic factors (sex, age, area of residence, family type, education, occupation, and income) and to investigate the association between years of schooling and good self-reported health among 18-49 year old citizens in the Yangon Region of Myanmar. Methods A population-based cross-sectional study with a multistage sampling procedure was conducted from October to November 2016, using structured face-to-face interviews with standard questions adapted from the Myanmar Demographic and Health Survey. For the association between years of schooling and good self-reported health, Prevalence Ratio (PR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) was estimated from Poisson regression analyses, separately in men and women. A Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) was used in the planning of the regression analyses to identify confounders and mediators. The sample included 2,506 (91.8% response) men and women aged 18–49 years and excluded nuns, monks, soldiers, institutionalized people, and individuals deemed too ill physically and/or mentally to participate. Results The prevalence of good self-reported health was 61.2% (95% CI: 59.3-63.1) and higher among men, those of younger age, those living with extended family, and with a higher level of education. After adjusting for confounders (age and area of residence), the association (PR) between years of schooling and self-reported health was 1.01 (95% CI: 1.01-1.02, p=0.002) in men and 1.01 (95% CI: 1.00-1.02, p=0.415) in women. Conclusions The prevalence of good self-reported health was substantially higher in men than in women. A one-year increase in education was associated with a 1% increase in the prevalence of good self-reported health among men, while the association was not significant among women (p=0.415). We suggest improvements of the health system, focusing on both physical and mental health, and improvement of women's social status and maternal health to improve public health status in Myanmar. | eng |