Dependent Variable

The dependent variable used in this study is individual health status, measured by subjective self-assessment. This variable is a direct and widely used physiological health indicator in the social sciences. The questionnaire measures residents’ health status by asking, “How do you assess your own health condition?” Respondents’ answers are categorized as “unhealthy”, “average”, “relatively healthy”, “healthy”, and “very healthy”, and are assigned integer values from 1 to 5, respectively. Within the sample, the average level of self-rated health among respondents is 2.74, which is below the “relatively healthy” level. Self-rated health is a comprehensive measure considering disease severity, family history of disease, and overall health status.^20,21 This reliable and valid measurement approach conforms to psychometric principles. Therefore, we use self-rated health as the primary measure of health status and employ other health-related variables as explanatory variables in robustness tests.