Poor Self-Rated Health Is Associated with Hospitalization and Emergency Department Visits in African American Older Adults with Diabetes

Abstract

Objectives We investigated the associations between poor self-rated health (SRH), hospitalization, and emergency department (ED) visits among African American older adults with diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods This survey recruited 235 non-institutionalized African American older adults (age > = 55 years) with diabetes mellitus (DM). Participants were recruited using a convenience sample from economically disadvantaged urban areas of South Los Angeles, California. Poor SRH was the independent variable. Hospitalization and ED visits in the past 12 months were the outcomes. Demographic factors, health [comorbid medical conditions (CMCs) and polypharmacy], health behaviors (smoking and drinking), and access (difficulty accessing care, dissatisfaction with the medical care, routine source of care, and visiting the same doctor) were confounders. Binary logistic regressions were used for data analysis. Results Poor SRH was associated with higher odds of hospitalization and ED visit, while all covariates were controlled. Conclusions Poor SRH may be predictive of increased healthcare utilization among African American older adults with DM. Research should test whether close monitoring of African American older adults with DM and poor SRH helps reduce their frequency of hospitalization and ED visits or not.

White and Black Differences in Perceived Access to Health and Community Services and Self-Rated Health in an Age-Friendly Community Assessment

“…Consistent with prior research (Bennett et al, 2009;Y. J. Choi, 2020;Franks et al, 2003;Liang et al, 2010;Spencer et al, 2009;Yao & Robert, 2008), results indicated that SRH (Assari et al, 2020;Hastings, 2019). The health and well-being of Black adults is the result of intertwined relationships between individual, behavioral, social, and structural factors that have been endured across the life course (Bell et al, 2018;Thorpe Jr et al, 2015).…”

“…J. Choi, 2020; Franks et al, 2003; Liang et al, 2010; Spencer et al, 2009; Yao & Robert, 2008), results indicated that SRH was lower among Black older adults compared with Whites. This disparity is concerning, given that negative SRH is associated with increased risk of obesity, depressive symptoms, psychological distress, hospitalization, and emergency department visits among Black older adults (Assari et al, 2020; Hastings, 2019). The health and well-being of Black adults is the result of intertwined relationships between individual, behavioral, social, and structural factors that have been endured across the life course (Bell et al, 2018; Thorpe Jr et al, 2015).…”

“…Extensive research on SRH has solidified this single-item measure as fundamental to scientific knowledge about individual and population health (Idler & Cartwright, 2018; Jylha, 2009). SRH is correlated with objective health status and is predictive of a number of health outcomes including morbidity, mortality, and health care utilization among older adults (Assari et al, 2020; DeSalvo et al, 2006; Jylha, 2009).…”

Associations Between Implementation of the Caregiver Advise Record Enable (CARE) Act and Health Service Utilization for Older Adults with Diabetes: Retrospective Observational Study

“…Older adults with diabetes endure many daily health management challenges surrounding their diet, blood glucose levels, medication and insulin injections, and skin and foot care [2][3][4][5][6]. Due to these challenges, older adults are more likely to experience acute and chronic complications related to their diabetes, which can subsequently lead to increased health care service utilization including hospitalization, emergency department (ED) visit, and mortality [7,8]. The total direct and indirect costs attributed to diabetes in the United States substantially increased from US $261 billion in 2012 to US $327 billion in 2017 [9].…”

Prevalence and determinants of depressive symptoms among adults in Indonesia: A cross‐sectional population‐based national survey

“…The extended Whitelaw and Liang's 11 theoretical model proposed by Boehme, Geiser, & Renneberg explained that physical functioning reflects specific aspects of quality of life‐related to health where individuals are able to adapt to their environment 12 . Self‐rated health refers to individuals' perceptions of their current health and have been shown to be strong predictors of morbidity, hospitalization, and mortality 13–15 . Some studies have found that disability, diseases, and poor health status and perceptions of self‐rated health are risk factors for the occurrence of depression 5,16–19 …”