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Updated: May 2, 2026
08:47
Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
12.4K
Self-rated health changes and oldest-old mortality.
1Department of Sociology and Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison. evogelsa@ssc.wisc.edu.
Summary
Changes in self-rated health (SRH) predict mortality risk in adults over 80. Even reporting improved health increases death risk, suggesting current SRH-mortality links may underestimate this danger.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Self-rated health (SRH) is a strong predictor of mortality.
- The relationship between changes in SRH and mortality is less understood, particularly in the oldest-old population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between two measures of short-term SRH change and mortality risk.
- To examine how prior SRH influences the relationship between SRH change and mortality.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Asset and Health Dynamics survey (oldest-old portion of the Health and Retirement Study).
- Followed 6,233 individuals for 13 years.
- Employed parametric hazard models to analyze SRH change and mortality.
Main Results:
- Any reported or observed SRH change between survey waves was associated with a higher mortality rate compared to consistent SRH.
- Individuals who changed SRH categories or reported health improvement faced increased death risk, even after controlling for covariates.
- These associations persisted even when compared to individuals with no change in SRH.
Conclusions:
- SRH change is a significant independent predictor of mortality in the oldest-old.
- The association between SRH and mortality may be underestimated when only considering static SRH status.
- Recent subjective health improvements in older adults may signal heightened mortality risk.
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