Self-Rated Health and Mortality Among Black and White Adults: Examining the Dynamic Evaluation Thesis

Abstract

The results suggest that self-ratings of health are sensitive to declines in physical health, especially those associated with terminal drop. The analysis also demonstrates the importance of using dynamic models for studying the link between self-rated health and mortality if data from multiple observation points are available.

Family Support, Self-Rated Health, and Psychological Distress

“…However, our findings that selfrated health only moderately correlated with medical diagnoses and psychological distress support claims that self-rated health is a cognitive representation or perception of health. [16][17][18] We also found that patients who perceived dissatisfying family support and who rated their health status as poor reported the most psychological distress on the SCL-10 and GHQ-12. However, participants with satisfying family support, regardless of their self-rated health, reported little psychological distress.…”

“…Self-rated health is a dynamic representation of overall health that includes the patient's knowledge of current and past medical problems, current frailty, and health changes over time. [16][17][18] Because self-rated health is often measured with a single item, it is an easily administered assessment tool in clinic settings. Poor self-rated health is related to an increased risk of mortality, even when a variety of health indicators are controlled for.…”

“…19,20 Self-rated health is also an important correlate of mental disorders, [21][22][23] elevated psychological symptoms, 24 and dissatisfying family support. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Although self-rated health, family support, and psychological distress have been found to correlate with each other, more complex associations between these variables have not been explored. The risk for psychological distress may increase as one makes negative appraisals about more than one area of life 26 ; in this case, health and family.…”

Demographic and Socioeconomic Determinants of Physical and Mental Self-rated Health Across 10 Ethnic Groups in the United States

“…12,[25][26][27][28][29] The degree by which SRH reflects psychological distress 25 and chronic medical and mental disorders 1,2,12-14 may differ from one ethnic group to another. [30][31][32][33][34][35][36] The meaning and determinants of SRH are not universal, but population specific. 12,26,28 Factors associated with SRH also vary across diverse ethnic groups.…”

“…12,26,28 Factors associated with SRH also vary across diverse ethnic groups. [30][31][32][33][34][35][36] As a general rule, poor SRH better reflects health problems in non-Hispanic Whites compared to all ethnic minorities such as Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians. 12 Poor SRH also better predicts mortality in Whites than non-Whites.…”