Constructing a Swiss health space model of self-perceived health.

This study aims to analyse the relationship between self-reported health characteristics and to explore latent cultural structures in the Swiss health survey. Based on categorical principal component analysis, a conceptual model of 'health space' was constructed which can be interpreted as a collective perception of health. The first dimension of the constructed health space model reflects the 'level of general health', and the second dimension the 'composition of physical and mental health symptoms'. These dimensions may reflect deeply rooted cultural structures--the good vs. bad dichotomy as a generic categorization scheme of human thought and the body/mind dualism. These latent structures provide a framework of the health space model and allow a better interpretation of the relationships of health perception characteristics and its related socio-demographic aspects.