Rating Health and Rating Change: How Canadians Rate Their Health and Its Changes

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Self-rated health (SRH) is a key indicator of overall health and well-being.
• Understanding the determinants of SRH is crucial for public health interventions.
• Previous research suggests varying contributions of health domains to SRH across different populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the cross-sectional and longitudinal contributions of five health domains to SRH.
• To examine whether these contributions differ by gender or age.
• To identify the most influential health domains for predicting SRH.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Canadian National Population Health Survey (NPHS, 1994-2011).
• Employed dominance analyses to quantify the contributions of functioning, diseases, pain, mental health, and behavior to SRH.
• Analyzed both cross-sectional SRH and longitudinal changes in SRH.

Main Results:

• Functioning emerged as the most significant predictor of SRH, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally.
• Diseases and pain were the next most important health domains influencing SRH.
• The relative importance of these domains showed no significant gender differences but was more pronounced in older adult cohorts.

Conclusions:

• Functioning, diseases, and pain are consistently the most critical health domains for SRH.
• These findings highlight a gender-invariant but age-graded process influencing SRH.
• The results underscore the importance of addressing physical health domains, particularly for older adults, to improve overall health perception.