Self-rated health and its relationship to functional status and well-beingin a group of elderly Guatemalan subjects

This study examined the association of self-rated health with physical func tion and emotional well-being, while controlling for differences in sex, ag e and anthropometry. Subjects were participants in a multicentre study orig inated by the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS). A total o f 151 elderly Guatemalan subjects were examined using a questionnaire which included information on self-rated health, activities of daily living, wel l-being, and a common battery of anthropometric variables. Adjusted odds ra tios (OR) obtained with polytomous logistic regression showed that subjects with the highest score on the well-being index compared with those with th e lowest were 1.67 times more likely (P-value <0.001, confidence interval ( C.I.) = 1.31-2.14) to rate themselves in 'good' health versus 'fair' and 'p oor' health. Subjects with the highest score versus those with the lowest o n the mobility index were 1.15 times more likely (P-value <0.05, (C.I.) = 1 .00-1.32) to rate themselves in 'good' health versus the other health ratin gs. These are the first results to examine the relationship of self-rated h ealth to physical function and emotional well-being of elderly. free-living Guatemalans.