Are gender differences in the relationship between self-rated health and mortality enduring?
Spiers N; Jagger C; Clarke M; Arthur A Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Leicester, UK. nas6@le.ac.uk PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess whether there is an enduring gender difference in the ability of self-rated health to predict mortality and investigate whether self-reported physical health problems account for this difference. DESIGN AND METHODS: Cox models for 4-year survival were fitted to data from successive cohorts aged 75-81 years registered with a primary care practice in the U.K. Midlands surveyed in 1981, 1988, and 1993-1995. RESULTS: Self-rated health was consistently a stronger predictor in men (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.7; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.1-3.5) than it was in women (HR = 1.9; 95% CI = 1.5-2.4). Women surveyed in 1993-1995 were more likely than men to report problems that were disabling but not life-threatening, whereas men were more likely to report potentially life-threatening problems. However, these differences di
