Background: Poor health is more prevalent in the east of Europe as compared with the west. This variation is often attributed to Soviet communism. Few studies investigate this health discrepancy within young adults who were children during this period. We studied the health of young adults by examining variations between world regions in general health between generations (18-65+). The individual and contextual mechanisms that might influence their health were also investigated.
Methods: World Health Survey data were analysed on young adults aged 18-34 (n = 91,823) and their elders aged 35+ (n = 132 362) from 59 countries. Main outcome was self-reported general health. Multi-level logistic regression was used to assess associations between general health and regions, while accounting for individual- and country-level socio-economic factors across age ranges.
Results: The prevalence of poor health was much higher for young adults in the Former Soviet Union region than in Western Europe, with the central European region being in-between.This pattern remained even after full adjustments, for the Former Soviet Union citizens [odds ratio 4.26 (95% confidence interval 1.77-10.24)] and for Central Europeans [odds ratio 1.73 (95% confidence interval 0.90-3.32)] as compared with western Europe. Age-specific analyses showed East-West health differences usually being larger as age increases (up to 65+). This age pattern seemed reversed for the south-west divide.
Conclusions: The East-West health gap seems more pronounced for the Former Soviet Union young adults, rather than Central Europeans. It appears as though young adults from Central Europe might have been somewhat insulated from the ill-health effects of communism.