printRussian Citizens’ Health Self-assessment Dynamics:
Relevant Trends of the Post-Soviet Era
Kozyreva P. M.
Dr. Sci. (Sociol.), First Deputy Director of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology RAS, Head of the Center for Longitudinal Studies at the Institute for Social Policy of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia. pkozyreva@isras.ru
Smirnov A.I.
Dr. Sci. (Sociol.), Senior researcher at the Institute of Sociology of FCTAS RAS, Moscow, Russia. smir_al@bk.ru
Kozyreva P. M., Smirnov A.I. Russian Citizens’ Health Self-assessment Dynamics: Relevant Trends of the Post-Soviet Era. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2020. No 4. P. 70-81
This study is devoted to analyzing Russian citizens’ health self-assessment dynamics during the post-Soviet era. Based on the “Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey – Higher School of Economics” (RLMS-HSE) data, it was found that Russian citizens’ self-evaluation of their health remains low. However, despite hardships of the last decade, when the population suffered from yet another in living standards decline, the people currently consider themselves to be slightly healthier compared to the post-transformational era of recovery growth. Though as of this moment the aforementioned trend has nearly come to an end: now Russian citizens are increasingly more worried about their health status. As was the case previously, rural residents have a higher evaluation of their health compared to people living in cities: they are less frequent to report not only dangerous chronic illnesses, but also less severe diseases. Elder citizens consider their health condition to be especially poor. Such factors as constant material deprivation, a limited or absent ability to work and communicate with other people, solitude, uncertainty and a lack of clear prospects in their lives all take a serious toll on their health.
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