title: Self-rated health and its relationship to functional status and well-being in a group of elderly Guatemalan subjects.
abstract: This study examined the association of self-rated health with physical function and emotional well-being, while controlling for differences in sex, age and anthropometry. Subjects were participants in a multicentre study originated by the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS). A total of 151 elderly Guatemalan subjects were examined using a questionnaire which included information on self-rated health, activities of daily living, well-being, and a common battery of anthropometric variables. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) obtained with polytomous logistic regression showed that subjects with the highest score on the well-being index compared with those with the lowest were 1.67 times more likely (P-value <0.001, confidence interval (C.I.) = 1.31-2.14) to rate themselves in 'good' health versus 'fair' and 'poor' health. Subjects with the highest score versus those with the lowest on the mobility index were 1.15 times more likely (P-value <0.05, (C.I.) = 1.00-1.32) to rate themselves in 'good' health versus the other health ratings. These are the first results to examine the relationship of self-rated health to physical function and emotional well-being of elderly, free-living Guatemalans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, USA. dherman@ucla.edu
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Herman
authors.forename: N W
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Solomons
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mendoza
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Qureshi
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D000886:Anthropometry; D005260:Female; D006166:Guatemala; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008124:Locomotion; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012647:Self-Assessment; D018881:Suburban Health; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires