Self-rated health and age: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study of 11,000 Danes aged 45-102.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to explore and describe self-rated health in middle-aged and elderly Danes using both a cross-sectional and a longitudinal design. Global and (age) comparative self-rated health are examined and compared.


METHODS
This study is interview based and comprises data on 11,294 Danes aged 45-102 with more than 1,900 participants aged 90 years and older.


RESULTS
As expected, global self-rated health declines with age in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. In contrast, comparative self-rated health either increases or remains stable with age in cross-sectional analyses while in longitudinal analyses there is a slight decline in comparative self-rated health.


CONCLUSIONS
The age-trajectory of global self-rated health is similar in individuals and populations. For comparative self-rated health, however, the individual on average experiences a slight decline, whereas on the population level comparative self-rated health either increases or remains stable. The explanation for this is likely to be higher mortality and higher non-response among the participants with the poorest self-rated health.
Andersen
Frank Krarup
FK
Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense C, Denmark.
Christensen
Kaare
K
Frederiksen
Henrik
H
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D012649:Self Concept; D018433:Twin Studies as Topic