title: Are gender differences in the relationship between self-rated health and mortality enduring? Results from three birth cohorts in Melton Mowbray, United Kingdom.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to assess whether there is an enduring gender difference in the ability of self-rated health to predict mortality and investigate whether self-reported physical health problems account for this difference.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cox models for 4-year survival were fitted to data from successive cohorts aged 75-81 years registered with a primary care practice in the U.K. Midlands surveyed in 1981, 1988, and 1993-1995.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Self-rated health was consistently a stronger predictor in men (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.7; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.1-3.5) than it was in women (HR = 1.9; 95% CI = 1.5-2.4). Women surveyed in 1993-1995 were more likely than men to report problems that were disabling but not life-threatening, whereas men were more likely to report potentially life-threatening problems. However, these differences did not explain the association of self-rated health with mortality. More than half of those who reported a potentially life-threatening problem said that their health was good.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Self-rated health is more strongly associated with mortality in men, but this is unlikely to be explained by differences in the nature of their physical health problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Leicester, UK. nas6@le.ac.uk
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Spiers
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jagger
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: Antony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arthur
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012649:Self Concept; D012737:Sex Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology