Poor self-rated health predicts the incidence of functional disability in elderly community dwellers in Japan: a prospective cohort study

Abstract

Background Although previous large population studies showed elderly with poor self-rated health (SRH) to be at a high risk of functional disability in Western countries, there have been few studies in which the association between SRH and functional disability was investigated in Japanese community dwellers. The association between SRH and functional disability, defined as certification of the long-term care insurance (LTCI) system, in Japanese elderly community dwellers was examined in this study. Methods A total of 10,690 individuals (39.5% men, mean age of 71.4 years) who were 65 years of age or more who did not have a history of cardiovascular disease or LTCI certification were followed in this prospective study for 10.5 years. SRH was classified into four categories: good, rather good, neither good nor poor, and poor. A Cox proportional-hazards model was used to determine the hazard ratios (HRs) for the incidence of functional disability among the SRH groups for each sex. Results The number of individuals with functional disability was 3377. Men who rated poor for SRH scored significantly higher for functional disability (HR [95% confidence interval]: poor = 1.74 [1.42, 2.14]) while women who rated rather good, neither good nor poor, and poor scored significantly higher for functional disability (rather good =1.12 [1.00, 1.25], neither good nor poor = 1.29 [1.13, 1.48], poor = 1.92 [1.65, 2.24]: p for trend < 0.001 in both sexes). Conclusion Self-rated health, therefore, might be a useful predictor of functional disability in elderly people.

Loneliness and physical function impairment: Perceived health status as an effect modifier in community-dwelling older adults in Ghana

“…Previous studies have strongly linked perceived health status with incident PFI in old age ( Gyasi and Phillips, 2018 , Yiengprugsawan et al, 2019 ). For example, Takahashi et al (2020) found in a prospective cohort study among older Japanese that poor self-rated health predicted increased functional disability. Using the WHO SAGE datasets, Tetteh et al (2019) observed 1.6 to 3.7-fold higher odds of functional difficulty in perceiving poor health in Ghana.…”

Rural–Urban Differences in Common Mental Disorders, Functional Limitation and Social Support among Adults with Cancer: A Population-Based Study in Spain

“…Older adults with cancer not only suffer from cancer-generated health problems but also encounter other age-related medical conditions, which have been associated with increased FLs [ 58 ]. According to the findings of this study, previous research has reported that people with poor self-perceived health are at a high risk for FL in the non-cancer population [ 59 ]. Furthermore, it is believed that a worse self-perceived health is associated with inflammatory biomarkers, including C-reactive protein and cytokines, which may contribute to FL [ 60 ].…”

Validating care‐needs level against self‐reported measures of functioning, disability and sarcopenia among Japanese patients receiving home medical care: The Zaitaku Evaluative Initiatives and Outcome Study

“…For health service research, the LTCI‐CNLs classification could be used for casemix adjustment; 18 for example, to examine the effectiveness of specific medical procedures, such as management of oral hygiene, on mortality among older patients. In previous outcome studies that focused on preventing long‐term care and used population‐based approaches, support level 1 or higher was considered to represent a disability, 20,21 and CN level 3 or higher was considered to show a loss of independence 22,23 . Our estimates showed gaps in WHODAS 2.0 and SARC‐F scores between CN level 1 and 2, and similarities in their scores between CN level 2 and 3 that might endorse CN level 2 or higher, which can be used to indicate a loss of independence in future outcome research among this population.…”