In the adult Hungarian population aged 15 and older, 54.2% rated their health as very good or good, while 14.7% rated it as bad or very bad in 2009.
Self-rated health is a psychologically grounded subjective construct that does not reliably track with objective 10-year changes in cardiovascular risk or health behaviors.
Absolute Event Rate: 54.2% vs 14.7%
Introduction: Self-rated health (SRH) predicts morbidity and mortality; however, its long-term trajectories and associations with psychological wellbeing (PWB), health behaviors, and cardiovascular risk remain understudied in Central and Eastern Europe. Aim: To describe 10-year changes in cardiovascular risk, health behaviors, PWB, and SRH, and to examine how SRH relates to PWB, health behaviors, and cardiovascular risk in a non-clinical Hungarian adult sample. Methods: Adults from Budakalász who participated in a cardiovascular screening in 2012 were invited to follow up in 2023. The analysis included 170 participants aged 45–65 years without major cardiovascular events. SRH was assessed with a single global item. Anthropometric and laboratory measures, FINDRISK and Framingham risk scores, health behaviors, and a fouritem PWB score derived from the Short Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36)were included. Non-parametric tests, independent sample t-tests, and Spearman correlations were applied. Results: Over the 10-year period, SRH showed a modest overall decline, with approximately one-quarter of participants reporting deteriorated SRH, more than half remaining stable, and a minority improving. SRH trajectories were not consistently associated with changes in PWB, cardiovascular risk, or health behaviors. Cross-sectionally, SRH was moderately correlated with PWB but only weakly related to health behaviors. Anthropometric data and cardiovascular risk scores increased, whereas fasting glucose, HbA1c%, and fruit and vegetable consumption improved, and physical activity shifted toward lower intensity. Conclusions: SRH was closely aligned with PWB over 10 years but largely decoupled from objective cardiovascular risk and health behaviors, supporting SRH as a psychologically grounded subjective health construct relevant for cardiovascular prevention.
Ehrenberger et al. (2026) studied General adult population in Hungary aged 15 years and older living in private households. In the adult Hungarian population aged 15 and older, 54.2% rated their health as very good or good, while 14.7% rated it as bad or very bad in 2009.