Abstract

OBJECTIVES
To determine which factors are related to young adults perception of their health. Two research questions were asked. Which aspects of health does self-perceived health as a index of general health reflect? Why do two individuals with the same level of general health have different health perceptions? METHODS: The sampling frame comprised college or graduate school students, aged 20 to 29, who were members of A, one of the 4 biggest internet communication services. The questionnaires were sent to study samples(n= 1,000) and answered by E-mail. Response rate was 37.0%. RESULTS: Firstly, physical health ranked highest and self-perceived health ranked lowest. Secondly, health, anxiety, depression, and self-perceived health showed significant differences between the sexes, with women showing a higher health status in these categories except for self-perceived health. Thirdly, the two factors significantly related to self-perceived health were physical health and self-esteem, as determined by multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The factors significantly related to self-perceived health were physical health and self-esteem. Further studies of the health characteristics of young adults are needed.

• Keywords: Self-perceived healthYoung adultInternetE-mailPhysical healthSelf-esteem