Journal article
Comparing self-rated health and self-assessed change in health in a longitudinal survey: Which is more valid?
FI Gunasekara, K Carter, T Blakely
Social Science and Medicine | PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD | Published : 2012
Abstract
Self-rated health (SRH) is commonly used in longitudinal analyses as a repeated outcome measure. This assumes that computed changes in SRH over time truly represent within-individual changes in underlying health. The longitudinal validity of SRH, however, is threatened by ceiling effects (where people reporting the highest level of SRH cannot report subsequent improved health), insensitivity to small changes within SRH categories, reference group effects (where individuals assess their health changes relative to their peers) and stability in SRH even when change in underlying health is occurring. We assessed the longitudinal validity of SRH by comparing computed changes in SRH with a measure..
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Funding Acknowledgements
This work, and the SoFIE-Health sub-study (reference 08/048), was supported by the Health Research Council of New Zealand, and was initiated as part of a PhD thesis within the Health Inequalities Research Programme, University of Otago. Publication was supported by the University of Otago Research Committee, by means of the University of Otago Postgraduate Publishing Bursary. Access to the data used in this study was provided by Statistics New Zealand in a secure environment designed to give effect to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act, 1975. The results in this study and any errors contained therein are those of the authors, not Statistics New Zealand.