title: Predicting mortality from community surveys of older adults: the importance of self-rated functional ability.
abstract: Using data from the 1990 baseline of the National Survey of Self-Care and Aging (NSSCA), and nearly three years of follow-up mortality data, we examined the association between self-rated functional ability, a global measure of perceived ability of function independently, and mortality among a national sample of older adults. The study included 3,485 subjects selected from the Medicare Beneficiary Files according to a stratified random sampling design, with approximately equal numbers of adults by gender in each of three age categories, 65-74, 75-84, and 85 and over. Self-rated functional ability was found to have an independent contribution to the subsequent risk of death among older adults. Using multivariate models that accounted for self-rated health, age, gender, medical conditions, functional status, and assistance from others, poor self-ratings on this single item nearly doubled the risk of death during the follow-up period. These findings suggest the importance, for both researchers and clinicians, of measuring the potential prognostic importance of self-ratings of health and self-ratings of functional ability among older adults.
authors.affiliation: Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Bernard
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Kincade
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Konrad
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Arcury
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Rabiner
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Woomert
authors.forename: G H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: DeFriese
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Ory
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D003153:Community Health Services; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012648:Self Care; D012647:Self-Assessment