Relationship of health-related quality of life to health care utilization and mortality among older adults.
OBJECTIVE
This investigation examined the ability of a four-item Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) scale to predict short-term (30-day) and long-term (1-year) physician visits, hospitalization, and mortality among older adults.


METHODS
Subjects included 84065 individuals aged 65 and older who completed a mail version of the Centers for Diseases Control's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Core HRQOL Module. HRQOL dimensions represented by the module include global self-rated general health, recent physical health, recent mental health, and recent activity limitation.


RESULTS
In analysis of covariance models controlling for demographic factors and comorbidity, the number of physician visits within 30 days and 1 year differed significantly across categories of each HRQOL item. In Cox regression models controlling for the same covariates, all four HRQOL questions were significant predictors of 30-day and 1-year hospitalization and mortality.


CONCLUSIONS
These results signify that all four dimensions of HRQOL represented by the BRFSS Core HRQOL Module are important predictors of both short-term and long-term adverse health events among older adults. This brief scale may be particularly useful for assessing the health of older adults in clinical settings and large-scale epidemiological studies.
Dominick
Kelli L
KL
Health Services Research and Development, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27705, USA. domin004@mc.duke.edu
Ahern
Frank M
FM
Gold
Carol H
CH
Heller
Debra A
DA
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005853:Geriatrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006761:Hospitals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010824:Physicians' Offices / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results