title: Large variation in predictors of mortality by levels of self-rated health: Results from an 18-year follow-up study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the variation in factors associated with mortality risk at different levels of self-rated health (SRH).
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cox regression analysis was used to examine the association between mortality and demographic, socioeconomic and health-related predictors for respondents with good, average, and poor SRH in a longitudinal data set from Estonia with up to 18 years of follow-up time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In respondents with good SRH, male sex, older age, lower income, manual occupation, ever smoking, and heavy alcohol consumption predicted higher mortality. These covariates, together with marital status, illness-related limitations, and underweight predicted mortality in respondents with average SRH. For poor SRH, only being never married and having illness-related limitations predicted mortality risk in addition to older age and male sex.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The predictors of all-cause mortality are not universal but depend on the level of SRH. The higher mortality of respondents with poor SRH could to a large extent be attributed to health problems, whereas in the case of average or good SRH, factors other than the presence of illness explained outcome mortality.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia; Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia; Stockholm Centre for Health and Social Change (SCOHOST), Södertörn University, Huddinge, Sweden. Electronic address: rainer.reile@ut.ee.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reile
authors.affiliation: Stockholm Centre for Health and Social Change (SCOHOST), Södertörn University, Huddinge, Sweden.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stickley
authors.affiliation: Stockholm Centre for Health and Social Change (SCOHOST), Södertörn University, Huddinge, Sweden; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, National Institute for Health Development, Tallinn, Estonia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leinsalu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002423:Cause of Death; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D004957:Estonia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005544:Forecasting; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012649:Self Concept; D057566:Self Report; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Estonia; Health concepts; Mortality; Self-rated health