ORIGINAL ARTICLE Self-Assessed Disability and Self-Rated Health Among Rural Villagers in Peru: A Brief Report James E. Rohrer, PhD; 1 Stephen P. Merry, MD, MPH; 1 Thomas D. Thacher, MD; 1 Matthew R. Summers, BS; 2 Jonathan D. Alpern, BS; 3 & Robert W. Contino, BS 4 1 Department of Family Medicine, Mayo Clinic-Rochester, Rochester, Minnesota 2 Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minnesota 3 Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 4 Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia We would like to thank the people of Pampas Grande for their cooperation and thank PanPeru for their technical assistance and funding for the collection of data used in this study. For further information, contact: James E. Rohrer, PhD, Department of Family Medicine, Mayo Clinic-Rochester, 200 First St SW, Rochester, MN 55905; e-mail: rohrer.james@mayo.edu. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-0361.2010.00293.x Abstract Context: Risks for poor self-rated overall health in rural areas of developing nations have not been thoroughly investigated. Purpose: The objective of this study was to assess potential risk factors for poor self-rated health among rural villagers in Peru. Methods: A door-to-door survey of villagers residing in the Pampas Grande region in Peru, which is in the Andes Mountains, yielded complete data for 337 adults. Findings: Adjusting for age and gender using multiple logistic regression anal- ysis revealed that having self-reported disabilities was inversely and indepen- dently related to good self-rated health (OR 0.48 [95% CI, 0.26-0.88]). Joint pain also was related to self-rated health (OR 0.23 [95% CI, 0.13-0.41]). Conclusions: Increasing access to affordable, effective analgesics may reduce this disparity. Health agencies should consider these actions as possible plan- ning priorities for the region. Key words access to care, epidemiology, rural, social determinants of health. Since the publication of The Future of Public Health 1 in 1988, assessment has been recognized as one of the core functions of public health. Needs assessment is one of the first steps in planning for community health programs. 2 Methods used range from the hyperqualitative, such as focus groups, to the strictly quantitative (reliance on vital statistics). Often, however, surveys are part of the assess- ment process. 3 In remote areas of developing nations, vital statistics may be incomplete, requiring health planners to engage in “shoe-leather” epidemiology. Going door-to-door with a clip board and a survey form is labor-intensive, but it also may be essential for gathering the information needed to prioritize health problems that will be ad- dressed with severely constrained budgets. The purpose of the study reported here was to as- sess the health needs of persons residing in a rural re- gion of Peru. A door-to-door survey was conducted. For this report, overall self-rated health was selected as a de- pendent variable because this measure best approximates the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) definition of health (ie, complete mental, social physical well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or disability). Our goal was to identify risk factors for poor health so that recommendations could be developed for public health authorities. Methods Sample and Procedures Located within the province of Huarez in Ancash, Peru, the district of Pampas comprises 10 rural farming vil- lages nestled high in the Andes Mountains. An estimated 294 The Journal of Rural Health 26 (2010) 294–298 c  2010 National Rural Health Association