Assessment of students’ health status using the George Rasch measurement model

Introduction. In the context of total digitalization of various spheres of human life, the problem of health in student youth is given increased attention. Therefore, the topic we have chosen is quite relevant.

Materials and methods. To obtain primary data, more than four hundred fifty Omsk 18-20 years students were tested in 2020 and 2025. The processing and analysis of the obtained dichotomous data were carried out using the George Rasch measurement model, which is a visual display of the results of observations of the importance of the studied latent property of a person and the complexity of test elements on a general logarithmic scale.

Purpose. Determination of the indicators of the student’s «health level» and the «significance» of test questions using the George Rasch measurement model.

Results. A comparison of these indicators revealed that students in 2025 are more likely to take medications without a doctor’s prescription than those in 2020. The number of colds among students has remained virtually unchanged, and meals have become more regular, though proper lunches are often replaced by fast food. The number of students participating in sports has increased, but the number of students with unhealthy habits has remained the same. The number of students in «very close to good» health in 2025 has increased significantly compared to 2020.

Research limitations. The survey is limited to a survey of Omsk students.

Conclusion. The obtained results can be used by administrative structures in the field of youth policy in the region to make management decisions to improve the health of students.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study was approved by the local ethics committee of the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education «Omsk State Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation», protocol dated January 20, 2025.

Contribution of the authors:
Lyapin V.A. — research concept and design, writing the text, data processing, editing;
Marenko V.A. — writing the text, data processing, compilation of the list of literature.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Funding. The research was funded in accordance with the state task of the Sobolev Institute of Mathematics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, project FWNF-2026-0024.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: May 21, 2025 / Revised: July 1, 2025 / Accepted: February 19, 2026 / Published: April 30, 2026

1. Work and Rest Regime as a Component of a Healthy Lifestyle for Students. In: Modern Trends in Innovation in Science and Production. Materials of the 13th International Scientific and Technical Conference [Sovremennye tendentsii innovatsii v nauke i proizvodstve. Materialy XIII mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-tekhnicheskoi konferentsii]. Mezhdurechensk; 2024. https://elibrary.ru/kqgdpb (in Russian)

2. Nevzorova M.S., Lozhkina M.Yu. Content of the category «healthy lifestyle» of students in modern pedagogy. Nauka i obrazovanie. 2019; 2(2): 148. https://elibrary.ru/ljskvt (in Russian)

3. Bazheeva M.S., Dronina O.A. Influence of physical exercise classes on the nervous system. Ekzamen: meditsinskie nauki. 2025; (18): 45–49. https://elibrary.ru/mfqstv (in Russian)

4. Onishchenko G.G., Zaitseva N.V., Mai I.V., Shur P.Z., Popova A.Yu., Alekseev V.B., et al. Health Risk Analysis in the Strategy of State Socio-Economic Development [Analiz riska zdorov’yu v strategii gosudarstvennogo sotsial’no-ekonomicheskogo razvitiya]. Perm’; 2024. https://elibrary.ru/udtylr (in Russian)

5. Anselmi P., Vidotto G., Bettinardi O., Bertolotti G. Measurement of change in health status with Rasch models. Health Qual. Life Outcomes. 2015; 13: 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-014-0197-x

6. Barbic S.P., Young N.L., Usuba K., Stankiewicz E. Rasch Measurement Theory’s contribution to the psychometric properties of a co-created measure of health and wellness for Indigenous children and youth. J. Clin. Epidemiol. 2022; 151: 18–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2022.07.010

7. Papini N.M., Jung M., Kang M., Lopez N.V., Herrmann S.D. Development and rasch analysis of the 18-item Health Resilience Profile (HRP). Nutrients. 2023; 15(4): 807. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15040807

8. An M., Yu X. A Rasch analysis of emerging adults’ health motivation questionnaire in higher education context. PLoS One. 2021; 16(3): e0248389. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248389

9. Maslak A.A., Radchenko S.A., Korobko A.I. The usage of the theories of the latent variables for measuring the educational competencies. Izvestiya Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. 2023; (7): 9–16. https://elibrary.ru/stzsiz (in Russian)

10. Columbia University. Rasch Modeling. Available at: https://publichealth.columbia.edu/research/population-health-methods/rasch-modeling