Contribution of Self-Reported Health Ratings to Predicting Frailty, Institutionalization, and Death Over a 5-Year Period

Abstract

Cross-sectional data from Phase 1 of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging was used to examine the relationship between two self-report health measures: “How would you say your health is these days?” (HEALTH) and “How much do your health troubles stand in the way of your doing the things you want to do?” (TROUBLE). The contribution of these measures to predictive models for institutionalization and mortality is examined, using linked data from Phases 1 and 2. Their relationship to a proposed frailty measure is also examined. At CSHA-1, a majority of respondents perceived that they were in good health and did not feel that their health problems interfered with their preferred activities. At all frailty levels, a majority of both males and females rated their health as “very good” or “pretty good.” As frailty increased, health problems increasingly interfered with normal activities. Logistic regression of the longitudinal data indicated that, despite their correlation, HEALTH and TROUBLE cannot act as proxies for each other. They appear to predict independently; adding one to the other significantly improved prediction of institutionalization and mortality.