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. 2023 Feb 21;20(5):3813.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20053813.

Self-Rated Health as a Predictor of Mortality in Older Adults: A Systematic Review

Moustapha Dramé  1   2 , Eléonore Cantegrit  3 , Lidvine Godaert  1   3
Affiliations

Self-Rated Health as a Predictor of Mortality in Older Adults: A Systematic Review

Moustapha Dramé et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the link between self-reported health (SRH) and mortality in older adults. In total, 505 studies were found in PubMed and Scopus, of which 26 were included in this review. In total, 6 of the 26 studies included did not find any evidence of an association between SRH and mortality. Of the 21 studies that included community dwellers, 16 found a significant relationship between SRH and mortality. In total, 17 studies involved patients with no specific medical conditions; among these, 12 found a significant link between SRH and mortality. Among the studies in adults with specific medical conditions, eight showed a significant association between SRH and mortality. Among the 20 studies that definitely included people younger than 80 years, 14 found a significant association between SRH and mortality. Of the twenty-six studies, four examined short-term mortality; seven, medium-term mortality; and eighteen, long-term mortality. Among these, a significant association between SRH and mortality was found in 3, 7, and 12 studies, respectively. This study supports the existence of a significant relation between SRH and mortality. A better understanding of the components of SRH might help guide preventive health policies aimed at delaying mortality in the long term.

Keywords: mortality; older adults; prediction; self-rated health.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest related to this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram of the records included in the systematic review.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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