Relationship between Education and Health in Russia: Analysis of Hypertension Risk Based on RLMS Data

The paper examines how education and other socio-economic characteristics of a person affect such a health indicator as hypertension. The analysis is based on data from the RLMS data set for 2012 and 2016. The choice of these waves is motivated by the author's ability to trace the impact of the crisis on the behavioral characteristics of people. The dependent variable is represented as a binary choice: sick/not sick. The logit model was chosen as the evaluation method. The model was evaluated separately for men and women. Based on previous research, the main hypothesis was put forward that the higher the level of education, the lower the probability of developing hypertension. As a result, it was found that higher education significantly negatively affects the risk of hypertension only in women and only before the crisis. After a crisis, the variable becomes insignificant. For men, the significant impact of education was also found only before the crisis. However, in this case, the impact was positive.