title: Correlates of subjective health across the aging lifespan: understanding self-rated health in the oldest old.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the determinants of self-rated health (SRH) in different age groups of older adults, including the oldest old.
  
  
  METHODS
  Variables assessing physical health, difficulty with self-care, depressive symptoms, and cognitive impairment were pooled and harmonized from three Australian longitudinal studies of ageing (N = 5,222). The association of these with SRH was examined in older adults aged 60 to 64 years, 65 to 74 years, 75 to 84 years, and 85 years and older.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SRH was not associated with cognitive impairment or difficulty with self-care in the oldest old, and its association with physical health was diminished compared with younger groups. Depression showed a significant relationship in all age groups, conferring an approximately fourfold increase in the likelihood of poorer SRH.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As old age progresses, self-reports of poor health become most closely related to psychological symptoms. This explains some of the paradoxes of past literature and offers important insights for health professionals working with the oldest old.
authors.affiliation: Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Davina.french@anu.edu.au
authors.forename: Davina J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: French
authors.forename: Kerry
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sargent-Cox
authors.forename: Mary A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Luszcz
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001315:Australia; D003072:Cognition Disorders; D003863:Depression; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D012648:Self Care