Research in and Prospects for the Measurement of Health Using Self-Rated Health

Abstract

Self-rated health (SRH)-for example, "in general would you say your health is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?"-is the most widely used measure of health across a range of survey research studies. This paper synthesizes extant research and provides a framework for future research on the measurement of health using SRH, focusing on four interrelated topics: the factors that influence respondents' health ratings, the survey measurement features of SRH, how SRH answers are analyzed, and the stated purpose of SRH as a proxy for more objective health or as a perception of health. Extant research on the health, psychological, and social factors influencing respondents' SRH answers is reviewed, as is research concerned with the survey measurement features of SRH that influence how respondents rate their health. The synthesis proposes a framework for future research that focuses on further explicating the factors that underlie respondents' SRH answers and improving features of SRH measurement and analysis in ways that are consistent with the various goals of the researchers who both collect and analyze the data.

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