Self-rated health. Comparisons between three different measures. Results from a population study

Background Self-rating of health is among the most frequently assessed heal th perceptions in epidemiological research. The aim of this study was to co mpare different measures of global self-rated health (SRH) with respect to differences in age and sex groups and relations to hypothesized determinant s. Method Three single-question measures of SRH were included in a health ques tionnaire administered to 8200 randomly chosen men and women. Two SRH measu res were non-comparative, one with seven (SRH-7) and one with five response options (SRH-5), while the third measure included a comparison with others of the same age (SRH-age). SRH-7 had specified response options only at th e ends of the scale, while the other two measures gave specified statements for each option. Comparisons between the SRH assessments were studied with respect to response frequencies, frequency distributions, age and gender d ifferences and differences in associations with hypothesized determinants. Results The differences between the SRH measures were in most cases margina l. Some diversities may, however, be worth considering: a high drop-out rat e for the SRH-7 measure in the oldest age group; a trend that SRH-7 correla ted most strongly with the independent variables; SRH-age showed improved h ealth ratings with increasing age but a less skewed frequency distribution compared to the noncomparative measures. Conclusion The results imply that non-comparative measures are more appropr iate in longitudinal studies and that measures without specified response o ptions might be less suitable for an older study group. The overall impress ion is, however, that the different measures represents parallel assessment s of subjective health.