Regular activities as indicators of subjective health status

In order to measure rehabilitation effectiveness, both functional limitations and symptoms need to be assessed. The utility of activity measures as health indicators was explored by studying patterns of everyday activity in two samples, using 26 self-report items. Subjects in one group had survived a myocardial infarction (MI) four months beforehand, while subjects in the other were members of an exercise class whose infarcts had occurred several years previously. For the recent MI group, the variable most closely associated with fewer mental and physical symptoms was the number of different activities involving social interaction. On the other hand, the fitter subjects related their subjective health to the more conventional activity indicators; frequency of working, sexual activity and exercise. It appears that immediately after an acute episode of illness, chronically ill people may judge their recovery in terms of resuming normal social relationships.