Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Oct;32(5):492-9.
doi: 10.1093/fampra/cmv065. Epub 2015 Aug 3.

Diagnostic labelling influences self-rated health. A prospective cohort study: the HUNT Study, Norway

Pål Jørgensen  1 , Arnulf Langhammer  2 , Steinar Krokstad  2 , Siri Forsmo  3
Affiliations

Diagnostic labelling influences self-rated health. A prospective cohort study: the HUNT Study, Norway

Pål Jørgensen et al. Fam Pract. 2015 Oct.

Abstract

Background: Studies have shown an independent association between poor self-rated health (SRH) and increased mortality. Few studies, however, have investigated any possible impact on SRH of diagnostic labelling.

Objective: To test whether SRH differed in persons with known and unknown hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus (DM) or hypertension, opposed to persons without these conditions, after 11-year follow-up.

Methods: Prospective population-based cohort study in North-Trøndelag County, Norway, HUNT2 (1995-97) to HUNT3 (2006-08). All inhabitants aged 20 years and older were invited. The response rate was 69.5% in HUNT2 and 54.1% in HUNT3. In total, 34144 persons aged 20-70 years were included in the study population. The outcome was poor SRH.

Results: Persons with known disease had an increased odds ratio (OR) to report poor SRH at follow-up; figures ranging from 1.11 (0.68-1.79) to 2.52 (1.46-4.34) (men with hypothyroidism kept out owing to too few numbers). However, in persons not reporting, but having laboratory results indicating these diseases (unknown disease), no corresponding associations with SRH were found. Contrary, the OR for poor SRH in women with unknown hypothyroidism and unknown hypertension was 0.64 (0.38-1.06) and 0.89 (0.79-1.01), respectively.

Conclusions: Awareness opposed to ignorance of hypothyroidism, DM and hypertension seemed to be associated with poor perceived health, suggesting that diagnostic labelling could have a negative effect on SRH. This relationship needs to be tested more thoroughly in future research but should be kept in mind regarding the benefits of early diagnosing of diseases.

Keywords: Cohort; diabetes mellitus; hypertension; hypothyroidism; longitudinal; self-rated health..

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flow chart of inclusion and exclusion in the hypothyroidism, DM and hypertension study parts
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Meurer LN, Layde PM, Guse CE. Self-rated health status: a new vital sign for primary care? WMJ 2001; 100: 35–9. - PubMed
    1. Miilunpalo S, Vuori I, Oja P, Pasanen M, Urponen H. Self-rated health status as a health measure: the predictive value of self-reported health status on the use of physician services and on mortality in the working-age population. J Clin Epidemiol 1997; 50: 517–28. - PubMed
    1. Smith PM, Glazier RH, Sibley LM. The predictors of self-rated health and the relationship between self-rated health and health service needs are similar across socioeconomic groups in Canada. J Clin Epidemiol 2010; 63: 412–21. - PubMed
    1. Idler EL, Kasl S. Health perceptions and survival: do global evaluations of health status really predict mortality? J Gerontol 1991; 46: S55–65. - PubMed
    1. Møller L, Kristensen TS, Hollnagel H. Self rated health as a predictor of coronary heart disease in Copenhagen, Denmark. J Epidemiol Community Health 1996; 50: 423–8. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types