title: The measurement of health--a critical and selective overview.
abstract: The need for global and individual health status indices in addition to traditional mortality and morbidity statistics is explained. A classification model for sorting various health status indices into homogeneous groups is presented to facilitate systematic review of selected health status indices. Problems for users and authors of health status indices are briefly discussed with a view to the development of more practical indices in the future.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Health Services Research, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Rockville, Maryland 20852, USA.
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Bryant
mesh_terms: D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000458:organization & administration; D006304:Health Status; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008603:Mental Health / Q000592:standards; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011634:Public Health / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014798:Vital Statistics