Self-reported health status and mortality in a multiethnic US cohort

The authors examined the relation between self-reported health status and m ortality among the following racial/ethnic groups: Native Americans, Asian/ Pacific Islanders, blacks, whites, and Hispanics. They pooled 1986-1994 dat a from the National Health interview Survey to obtain information on more t han 700,000 cohort participants. Although fewer than 5,000 Native Americans are included in this cohort, the data provide information previously unava ilable for this group. Also included are almost 17,000 Asian/Pacific Island ers, over 90,000 blacks, and over 50,000 Hispanics. The authors found stron g associations between self-reported health status and both socioeconomic s tatus and subsequent mortality. A self-report of fair or poor health was as sociated with at least a twofold increased risk of mortality for all racial /ethnic groups. Even after adjustment for socioeconomic status and measures of comorbidity, a significant relation was found between self-reported hea lth status and subsequent mortality. The authors found that self-reported h ealth status is a strong prognostic indicator for subsequent mortality for both genders and all racial/ethnic groups examined. These results emphasize the utility of using simple filter questions in population research.