[Relationship of self-rated health to mortality among the community elderly]

The purpose of the present study is to examine the relationship of self-rated health to mortality. Subjects consisted of 1096 elderly (471 men, 625 women) aged 65 years and over in 1983, living in the town of Yuwa in Akita Prefecture. They were followed to determine survivorship status and relocation for 7 years after the baseline survey in 1983. The relationship of self-rated health to mortality was tested using a logistic model. The results obtained were as follows: (1) Poor self-rated health was significantly related to higher mortality in a graded fashion by univariate analyses. (2) The significant relationship of self-rated health to mortality was still observed after controlling for sex, age, education, drinking, smoking, physician visits, history of stroke, and activities of daily living. (3) The contribution of self-rated health to mortality differed by sex, age group (65-74, 75-), and period of follow-up (early, late). The contribution was greater in men, aged 75 and over, and during the latter part of the follow up.