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Self-Rated Health: When and How to Use It in Studies Among Older People?

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International Handbook of Health Expectancies

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Population ((IHOP,volume 9))

Abstract

Self-rated health (SRH) is a simple and pragmatic tool that researchers often use to measure overall health status. However, there is a need for more specific recommendations regarding when and how SRH should be used. SRH measured at one point in time likely reflects underlying health status, even in groups with a high level of morbidity. With regard to longitudinal studies and clinical trials however, many older people do not appear to change their SRH over time, resulting in a more stable SRH than would be expected based on declines or improvements in other health indicators. The added value of including SRH in studies as a measure of health thus depends on the specific aims and design of the study. This chapter discusses the discrepancies between health status and SRH in different study designs of older people, and proposes practical recommendations for using SRH in future studies on ageing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Henrike Galenkamp, Martijn Huisman & Dorly J. H. Deeg

  2. Department of Public Health, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Henrike Galenkamp

  3. Department of Emergency Psychiatry and Department of Residency Training, Altrecht Mental Health Care, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Arjan W. Braam

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Amsterdam UMC, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Martijn Huisman & Dorly J. H. Deeg

  5. Department of Sociology, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Martijn Huisman

Authors
  1. Henrike Galenkamp
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  2. Arjan W. Braam
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  3. Martijn Huisman
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  4. Dorly J. H. Deeg
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Henrike Galenkamp .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK

    Carol Jagger

  2. Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Eileen M. Crimmins

  3. College of Economics, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan

    Yasuhiko Saito

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium

    Renata Tiene De Carvalho Yokota  & Herman Van Oyen  & 

  5. Department of Sociology, Interface Demography, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Renata Tiene De Carvalho Yokota

  6. Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Herman Van Oyen

  7. Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (Inserm) and Ecole pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Paris, France

    Jean-Marie Robine

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Galenkamp, H., Braam, A.W., Huisman, M., Deeg, D.J.H. (2020). Self-Rated Health: When and How to Use It in Studies Among Older People?. In: Jagger, C., Crimmins, E.M., Saito, Y., De Carvalho Yokota, R.T., Van Oyen, H., Robine, JM. (eds) International Handbook of Health Expectancies. International Handbooks of Population, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37668-0_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37668-0_12

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-37668-0

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