ASSESSING RELIABILITY OF A MEASURE OF SELF-RATED HEALTH

The test-retest reliability of self-rated health is analysed and compa red with the reliability of health questions phrased more as well as l ess precisely. Differences in reliability between men and women and be tween age groups are also assessed. The study is based on 204 and 409 re-interviews from the 1991 Swedish Level of Living Survey and the 198 9 Survey of Living Conditions respectively. The results show that the reliability of self-rated health is as good as or even better than tha t of most of the more specific questions. Only an indicator of high bl ood pressure showed significantly higher reliability. The reliability of self-rated health is good in all subgroups studied, and is even exc ellent among older men. It is concluded that the good overall reliabil ity of self-rated health found in this study is in line with previous results concerning the validity of people's assessments of their gener al health as well as results concerning the basis upon which they make these judgements.