title: Survival, functional limitations, and self-rated health in the NHANES I Epidemiologic Follow-up Study, 1992. First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
abstract: This study examined relative hazards for mortality and functional limitations according to poor self-ratings of health using prospective data from the NHANES I Epidemiologic Follow-up Study, a representative sample of US adults aged 25-74 years that has been followed since the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) was conducted in 1971-1975. Follow-up data were taken from death records and from the 1982 and 1992 reinterviews. Respondents (n = 6,913) provided extensive baseline data through physician examinations, laboratory testing, and self-reports of conditions, symptoms, and risk behaviors. Functional limitations were assessed among survivors in 1982 and 1992. Cox regression models accounting for sample design indicated that baseline self-rated health was associated with a significantly reduced hazard of mortality for males but not for females through 1992; adjusted hazards ratios for excellent health as compared with poor health were 0.52 for males (95% confidence interval: 0.36, 0.73) and 0.80 for females (95% confidence interval: 0.51, 1.23). Self-rated health also predicted 1982 and 1992 functional limitation for both men and women and 1992 function net of 1982 function for men only. Self-rated health contributes unique information to epidemiologic studies that is not captured by standard clinical assessments or self-reported histories, but evidence suggests that the effect may be stronger for men than for women.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research, Rutgers--The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick 08903, USA. idler@rci.rutgers.edu
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Idler
authors.forename: L B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology