Reports Outline Mental Health Diseases and Conditions Study Findings from University of Florida (Examining the Effects of Environmental Knowledge and Health Insurance Coverage on Health Status): Mental Health Diseases and Conditions

2023 APR 24 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Data detailed on mental health diseases and conditions have been presented. According to news originating from Gainesville, Florida, by NewsRx editors, the research stated, “Rural women in developing nations are especially vulnerable to higher health risks due to environmental pollution exposure and are more likely to experience poorer health outcomes. Using data from the 2013 China General Social Survey CGSS2013, this study empirically examined the relationship among environmental knowledge (EK), pollution, health investment (i.e., holding and purchasing a public health insurance policy, engaging in frequent physical activity, and acquiring commercial insurance), and health status.”

Funders for this research include University of Florida International Center (Ufic)’s Global Fellowship Award; Ufic Collaborative Faculty Team Project; China Scholarship Council.

Our news reporters obtained a quote from the research from University of Florida: “The sample was composed of 1930 women residing in rural regions in China. Three main research questions are investigated: whether environmental knowledge affects health investment and health status, whether health investments impact health status, and whether the relationship between environmental knowledge and health status is mediated by health investment. Our results showed that the level of EK for women in rural China significantly impacted their self-reported physical and mental health. To account for potential endogeneity due to mutual causality, this study employed television usage and network usage as two instrumental variables (IVs) of EK and used an IV-probit method. Additionally, we estimated a model that replaced health status with the variable Body Mass Index (BMI) to assess the reliability and robustness of our results. The results were consistent, providing evidence of robustness. Additionally, we examined the relationship between health investment (holding and purchasing a public health insurance policy, engaging in frequent physical activity, and acquiring commercial insurance) and health status.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Our results indicated that the level of EK had no significant impact on participating in the new rural cooperative medical system. However, the preference for purchasing commercial insurance was positively impacted by EK, though it did not directly affect health status. Conversely, an increase in EK and pollution was associated with a greater likelihood of engaging in physical exercise, which, in turn, improved overall mental health.”

For more information on this research see: Examining the Effects of Environmental Knowledge and Health Insurance Coverage on Health Status. Environments, 2023,10(4). (Environments - http://www.mdpi.com/journal/environments). The publisher for Environments is MDPI AG.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/environments10040062.

Our news journalists report that more information may be obtained by contacting Yong Liu, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, United States. Additional authors for this research include Jorge Ruiz-Menjivar, Mosili Lepheana, Brent R. Carr.

ORCID is an identifier for authors and includes bibliographic information. The following is ORCID information for the authors of this research: Yong Liu (http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1939-2799), Jorge Ruiz-Menjivar (http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1167-4839).

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