Aims: The aims of this study were to: (1) examine the concurrent validity of self-rated health for mental and physical health in Europe; and (2) evaluate whether self-rated health predicts health problems differentially by gender. Methods: Data are from 19 European countries surveyed in the 2014 European Social Survey. We applied ordinary least squares regression to examine the association between self-rated health and summary indicators of physical and mental health problems. Results: We observed an association between self-rated health and both physical and mental health problems in all countries. Gender differences in the concurrent validity of self-rated health were documented in eleven out of 19 countries. Conclusions: Self-rated health is a valid and efficient measure of physical and mental health across the European continent, with significantly greater concurrent validity among women.
DeSalvoKBloserNReynoldsK. Mortality prediction with a single general self-rated health question. J Gen Intern Med2006;21:267–75.
2.
IdlerELBenyaminiY.Self-rated health and mortality: a review of twenty-seven community studies. J Health Soc Behav1997;38:21–37.
3.
JylhäM.What is self-rated health and why does it predict mortality? Towards a unified conceptual model. Social Sci Med2009;69:307–16.
4.
HuismanMDeegDJH. A commentary on Marja Jylhä’s ‘What is self-rated health and why does it predict mortality? Towards a unified conceptual model’. Social Sci Med2010;70:652–4.
5.
JylhäM.Self-rated health between psychology and biology. A response to Huisman and Deeg. Social Sci Med2010;70:655–7.
6.
BenyaminiY.Why does self-rated health predict mortality? An update on current knowledge and a research agenda for psychologists. Psychol Health2011;26:1407–13.
7.
SchnittkerJBacakV.The increasing predictive validity of self-rated health. PLoS One2014;9:e84933.
8.
ZborowskiM.Cultural components in response to pain. J Social Issues1952;8:16–30.
9.
BardageCPluijmSMFPedersenNL. Self-rated health among older adults: A cross-national comparison. Eur J Ageing2005;2:149–58.
10.
NyboHPetersenHCGaistD. Predictors of mortality in 2249 nonagenarians: the Danish 1905 cohort survey. J Am Geriatr Soc2003;51:1365–73.
11.
SundquistJJohanssonSE.Self-reported poor health and low educational level predictors for mortality: a population based follow up study of 39,156 people in Sweden. J Epidemiol Community Health1997;51:35–40.
12.
JylhäMGuralnikJMFerrucciL. Is self-rated health comparable across cultures and genders?J Gerontol Ser B Psychol Sci Social Sci1998;53:S144–52.
13.
KaplanGAGoldbergDEEversonSA. Perceived health status and morbidity and mortality: evidence from the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study. Int J Epidemiol1996;25:259–65.
14.
DeegDJHKriegsmanDMW. Concepts of self-rated health: specifying the gender difference in mortality risk. Gerontologist2003;43:376–86.
15.
BurströmBFredlundP.Self rated health: is it as good a predictor of subsequent mortality among adults in lower as well as in higher social classes?J Epidemiol Community Health2001;55:836–40.
16.
ManderbackaKKareholtIMartikainenP. The effect of point of reference on the association between self-rated health and mortality. Social Sci Med2003;56:1447–52.
17.
ReadJGGormanBK.Gender and health inequality. Annu Rev Sociol2010;36:371–86.
18.
BenyaminiYBlumsteinTLuskyA. Gender differences in the self-rated health-mortality association: is it poor self-rated health that predicts mortality or excellent self-rated health that predicts survival?Gerontologist2003;43:396–405.
19.
BenyaminiYLeventhalEALeventhalH.Gender differences in processing information for making self-assessments of health. Psychosom Med2000;62:354–64.
20.
KesslerRCBrownRLBromanCL.Sex differences in psychiatric help-seeking: evidence from four large-scale surveys. J Health Social Behav1981;22:49–64.
21.
AddisMEMahalikJR.Men, masculinity, and the contexts of help seeking. Am Psychol2003;58:5–14.
22.
EikemoTABambraCHuijtsT. The first pan-European sociological health inequalities survey of the general population: the European Social Survey rotating module on the social determinants of health. Eur Sociol Rev2017;33:137–53.
23.
RadloffLS.The CES-D scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Appl Psychol Meas1977;1:385–401.
24.
PampelFCKruegerPMDenneyJT.Socioeconomic disparities in health behaviors. Annu Rev Sociol2010;36:349–70.
25.
AneshenselCSFrerichsRRHubaGJ.Depression and physical illness: a multiwave, nonrecursive causal model. J Health Social Behav1984;25:350–71.
26.
HeidrichJLieseADLöwelH. Self-rated health and its relation to all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in southern Germany. Results from the MONICA Augsburg Cohort study 1984–1995. Ann Epidemiol2002;12: 338–45.
27.
GoldbergPGuéguenASchmausA. Longitudinal study of associations between perceived health status and self reported diseases in the French Gazel cohort. J Epidemiol Community Health2001;55:233–8.
28.
Grol-ProkopczykHFreeseJHauserRM.Using anchoring vignettes to assess group differences in general self-rated health. J Health Social Behav2011;52:246–61.
29.
KandulaNRLauderdaleDSBakerDW.Differences in self-reported health among Asians, Latinos, and non-Hispanic Whites: the role of language and nativity. Ann Epidemiol2007;17:191–8.
30.
BzostekSGoldmanNPebleyA.Why do Hispanics in the USA report poor health?Social Sci Med2007;65:990–1003.
31.
SchnittkerJ.When mental health becomes health: age and the shifting meaning of self-evaluations of general health. Milbank Q2005;83:397–423.
32.
Elderkin-ThompsonVWaitzkinH.Differences in clinical communication by gender. J Gen Intern Med1999;14:112–21.
