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?

The independent association of self-rated health (SRH) with mortality has been reported in most studies that have tested this association, even after they controlled for a variety of indicators of health status, psychological functioning, and socio-economic status (see reviews by Benyamini & Idler, 1999; Idler & Benyamini, 1997). Even though over 50 studies have examined this phenomenon, the link between current SRH and future health outcomes is not fully understood and therefore it remains an intriguing issue. Although the basic fi nding of an association between SRH and mortality is quite consistent, the data are less consistent on questions such as the strength of this association, the degree to which it changes when certain covariates are controlled for, and the way it varies among different groups. One of the areas of inconsistency is the gender difference in the SRH-mortality association.