Poor psychological health is a serious public health concern, and determining factors thereof is of utmost importance to researchers and policymakers. This study examines sociodemographic, lifestyle and health factors associated with psychological health among adults from a semirural multi-ethnic population in Malaysia. Data were derived from a large-scale cross-sectional survey conducted in Malaysia. Psychological health was assessed by the psychological domain of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL). The relationships between the scores of psychological health and sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health factors were evaluated using Poisson regression, stratified by ethnic groups. Results showed that among Malays, income, education and being married were positively associated with psychological health outcomes, whereas age and being diagnosed with diabetes were correlated with undesirable psychological health. Chinese who had higher incomes, had higher education levels, were married, did not consume alcohol, and did not live with diabetes tended to have better psychological health than others. Indians and those of other ethnic groups with poor psychological health were more likely to have low incomes, be older, be less educated and have diabetes. Hypertension diagnosis was associated with poorer psychological health, particularly among the Malay and Indian/others ethnic groups. However, smoking was not associated with psychological health in all ethnic groups. In conclusion, there were differentiated roles of sociodemographic and health factors across ethnic groups in psychological health. Therefore, public health interventions directed toward improving quality of life among individuals of different ethnicities should pay attention to the roles of sociodemographic traits and health profiles.
Keywords: Ethnicity; Mental health; Psychological health; Quality of life; Sociodemographic factors.
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