Perceived functional health of disabled elderly persons in a follow-up program for primary care

180 disabled elderly persons were followed in a home care program after acute care rehabilitation in order to correlate subjective and objective ratings of medical, physical, and social functioning. To assess the benefits of case management services, 95 test patients receiving such care at home were compared with 85 controls who did not receive services. Both groups reported gains in functional health and their reports were verified with objective measures. There was no difference, however, between the groups in outcome. Our findings indicated that self-assessments correlate highly with measures of functional health. Procedures for self-ratings should be developed as important complements to objective functional health measures.