Self-Assessed Health Level (SF-36) of the Social Services Users, in the Region of East Macedonia and Thrace in Greece

The definition of health by the WHO, contributes to the acceptance of the concept that health is directly related to the social-economic environment as well as to the living conditions of the individual. The aim of this article is to highlight the health problems faced by the users of the social services of the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace and also to highlight the perception that the respondents themselves have about their health. The use of the SF-36 questionnaire helped to capture these issues. There was great interest in the effect that demographic, social and economic factors have on the health of the individuals in the sample, on the one hand, in the way they themselves assess their health, and on the other hand, the effect it has on the use of health services. The survey data showed that both sexes show higher and lower values on the same self-esteem scales (Physical Functionality and Vitality). Regarding age, it appears that the 18 - 24 years old age group shows higher values in the scales of Physical Functioning (PF), Physical Role (PR), Physical Pain (PP) and Emotional Role (ER). Regarding marital status, it appears that singles show the highest values in the scales of Physical Functioning (PF), Physical Role (PR), Physical Pain (PP), Emotional Role (ER) and Social Functionality (SF). Regarding the number of children in a family, it seems that those who have no children show higher values in the scales of Physical Functioning (PF), Physical Role (PR), Physical Pain (PP) and Social Functionality (SF). Those who have five or more children subsequently have lower values in the Physical Role (PR), Mental Health (MH) and Emotional Role (ER) scales. The level of grammatical knowledge is mostly associated with higher values in the higher schools for the scales of Physical Functioning (PF), Physical Pain (PP), Mental Health (MH), Social Functioning (SF) and Vitality (V).