Lyness Jeffrey M, King Deborah A, Conwell Yeates, Duberstein Paul R, Eberly Shirley, Sörensen Silvia M, Caine Eric D
Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, 300 Crittenden Boulevard, Rochester, NY 14642, USA.
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2004 Jan-Feb;12(1):110-3.
The authors tested the hypothesis that poorer self-rated health is associated with poorer health outcomes.
They prospectively examined the association of self-rated health to 1-year outcomes in 247 older subjects from primary care settings.
Poorer self-rated health was independently associated with 1-year functional disability, after covarying initial clinical and functional measures, but was not independently associated with 1-year depression diagnosis. Results were mixed regarding associations with 1-year medical burden or mortality.
Clinicians should be vigilant for functional decline in patients who perceive their health negatively. Future research should test potential mechanisms that might underlie this association.
