Publication:
Self-Rated Health in the Last 12 Years of Life Compared to Matched Surviving Controls: The Health and Retirement Study

Thumbnail Image

Date

2014

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Public Library of Science
The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you.

Research Projects

Organizational Units

Journal Issue

Citation

Stenholm, Sari, Jaana Pentti, Ichiro Kawachi, Hugo Westerlund, Mika Kivimäki, and Jussi Vahtera. 2014. “Self-Rated Health in the Last 12 Years of Life Compared to Matched Surviving Controls: The Health and Retirement Study.” PLoS ONE 9 (9): e107879. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0107879. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0107879.

Research Data

Abstract

Self-rated health (SRH) is a valid measure of health status and associated with mortality. Based on individual-level biannual repeat data on SRH we sought to characterize the natural history of poor SRH during the 12 years prior to death in men and women in different age groups. We conducted a retrospective analysis of the Health and Retirement Study participants who died between 1998 and 2010 and had at least two SRH measurements in the 12 years prior to death. We used a nested case-control design to compare SRH trajectories of deceased men and women aged 30–64, 65–79 and 80 years versus surviving participants. The cases comprised 3,350 deceased participants who were matched to surviving controls (n = 8,127). SRH was dichotomized into good vs. poor health. Men and women dying at age 65–79 and ≥80 years had 1.5 to 3 times higher prevalence of poor SRH already 11–12 years prior to death compared to surviving controls. The risk estimates remained statistically significant even after adjusting for life-style related risk factors and diagnosed diseases. Prevalence of poor SRH before death was lowest among those aged ≥80 years and highest in 30–64 year-olds. In conclusion, men and women who subsequently die perceive their health worse already 11–12 years prior to death compared to their surviving controls.

Description

Keywords

Medicine and Health Sciences, Epidemiology, Epidemiology of Aging, Social Epidemiology, Health Care, End of Life, Quality of Life

Terms of Use

This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material (LAA), as set forth at Terms of Service

Endorsement

Review

Supplemented By

Referenced By

Related Stories