Background/Purpose Few would argue that a primary goal of health education is to improve health status, and that providing credible health-related information is a prerequisite. This study sought to evaluate the self-rated health (SRH) status among college students who reported receiving the majority of their health-related information from health educators using the 2006 National College Health Association (NCHA) survey. SRH was chosen as the dependent variable because of its known predictive abilities of morbidity and mortality than more objective health indicators.
Method After excluding students who reported receiving the majority of their health-related information from other sources (e.g., parents, friends, magazines, campus peer educators, etc.), 49,921 participants were eligible for analysis. Bivariate associations between SRH and the believability of health information received (‘believable', ‘neither believable or unbelievable', and ‘unbelievable') were analyzed by correlation and chi-square analyses. Multiple logistic regression tested the relationship after adjustment for covariates known to influence SRH.
Analysis/Results A modest, but significant correlation (r=.06, p<.0001) was observed between the variables. However, SRH significantly declined as the believability of health-rated information received from health educators became increasingly unfavorable (χ2 = 110.96, p<.0001). After adjustment for covariates, the relationship persisted with increased odds of reporting fair/poor health for those who reported the health-related information received as ‘neutral' (neither believable or unbelievable) (OR =1.31) or ‘unbelievable' (OR= 2.25) when compared to those who reported the health-related information received as ‘believable' (p<.0001).
Conclusions Findings suggest that the field of health education, and well-trained health educators, can positively influence the overall health status of college students.