concepts, and a potential to improve long term cv health through middle school education delivere... more concepts, and a potential to improve long term cv health through middle school education delivered by public health nurses.
The importance of personal and collective resources in coping with recent life events was studied... more The importance of personal and collective resources in coping with recent life events was studied among 230 kibbutz members. The sense of coherence, a global life orientation that detects the ability to avoid stressors and to choose appropriate coping strategies and resources, represented personal resources. Collective resources, embedded in the social system to which one belongs, were measured by membership in a religious kibbutz, the kibbutz being viewed as a powerful, collective-coping resource by itself. Physical well-being, psychological distress, and functional limitations were used as outcome measures. Both types of resources have a salutogenic effect, but sense of coherence appears to be a better resource for avoiding the effect of recent life events and for moderating psychological distress and functional limitation after experiencing such events. The two types of resources have no additive effect, nor do they compensate for each other. Only one significant interaction was found, suggesting that the combination of the two resources is useful in avoiding functional limitation. It is also suggested that collective resources have a slight positive effect on personal resources, which, in turn, take over and become most valuable in coping with recent life events. When stress affects social functioning, these same personal resources facilitate the mobilization of whatever collective resources are available.
Gender differences in health and health behavior are well established in Western societies, but l... more Gender differences in health and health behavior are well established in Western societies, but little is known about gender health inequalities in rural China. We examine patterns of age-sex differences in health and health behavior of men and women in rural HeBei, People's Republic of China, and consider the extent to which these patterns resemble gender health inequalities observed in North America and Western Europe. The data analyzed were collected from 14,895 individuals residing in 288 villages in the HeBei Province. The results show that gender differences emerged at a later age than generally reported in Western societies. Poorer health among women, as compared with men, becomes observable during young adulthood (25-44) rather than at adolescence, and reached its peak among older adults (45-59) rather than during the productive and reproductive stage of the life course. Among the elderly, the differences between the health and the health behavior of men and women narrowed, similar to many reports in North America and Western Europe. Most importantly, no gender differences in mental health were observed. These findings suggest that the older adult age group (45-59) may be appropriate for interdisciplinary efforts to advance the understanding regarding the relative contributions of nature and nurture to gender differences in health.
Almost five decades ago, the Chinese Communist Party wished to abolish all "remnants of ... more Almost five decades ago, the Chinese Communist Party wished to abolish all "remnants of feudalism," including the patriarchal social order. Just one year after the revolution, the Marriage Law endorsed women's rights within the family, but no operative measures were taken to enforce it. Some of the economic reforms since independence even strengthened patrilocality and, possibly, patriarchal values. The purpose of this study was to explore the degree to which patrilocality served to maintain the traditional patriarchal stratification among women in the household by exploring women's health patterns and utilization of health services. Data were collected from 3859 women residing in rural Hebei, and variation in health and help seeking of six categories of relation to household head--mothers, wives, daughters, daughters-in-law, family heads, and other relatives--were explored. Utilization of health services is not dependent on women's position in the household, but primarily on per-capita income. Health patterns seem to indicate that mothers of the head of the household still have a considerable power to define their roles and share of household work. Women head of family, most of whom are married, appear to be under strain, which could be a result of their culturally "deviant" position. We conclude that old patriarchal values are intertwined with values of equality in current rural China.
The associations among health status, health behavior, and changes in human cytomegalovirus (HCMV... more The associations among health status, health behavior, and changes in human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) specific salivary antibodies during academic stress were investigated in relation to academic achievement among nursing and physiotherapy students. Fifty-four first year students donated saliva samples and completed a pencil and paper questionnaire before (t1), during two term examinations (t2 and t3), and after grades were posted (t4). An increase in the level of specific salivary HCMV IgG and IgA antibodies from t1 to t2, and a decrease from t2 to t4 were related to academic success. Health status and health behavior remained fairly stable during the stress period. The results are congruent with the inverted U-shape model of stress and learning suggested by Yerkes & Dodson (1908).
This paper reviews the longitudinal studies in which the association between hypertension and cog... more This paper reviews the longitudinal studies in which the association between hypertension and cognitive functioning has been explored. The findings of these studies are far from being consistent: positive, adverse, or no relationships between cognitive performance and blood pressure have been reported. In some studies, cognitive functioning was related only to systolic blood pressure, whereas in others, it was related to diastolic blood pressure alone. Most probably, the inconsistency is due to the variability in research design, the measures employed, and data management. Some of the main methodological issues are the wide range in the age of the subjects and the variability in hypertension at baseline. Length of exposure to hypertension was rarely considered, and the search for the possible effects of the different antihypertensive treatments on cognitive ability is in its infancy. Many studies seek to identify cognitively impaired elderly and do not distinguish between the differ...
The morbidity and mortality benefits of blood pressure (BP) control for the elderly is well docum... more The morbidity and mortality benefits of blood pressure (BP) control for the elderly is well documented. The cognitive consequences of hypertension control in this population, however, are still under debate. We aim to study the association between BP and cognitive performance in the elderly. Specifically, we explore 1) the possibility that BP is differentially associated with various cognitive domains; and 2) the utility of analyzing both BP and cognitive scores as continuous variables to unravel possible nonlinear associations. Four hundred ninety-five community living 70 to 85 year olds completed eight cognitive tests that measured memory, concentration, visual retention, verbal fluency, and the mini-mental state examination (MMSE). The performance of each test was analyzed first by comparing four groups (normotensives, normalized hypertensives, untreated hypertensives, and treated but uncontrolled hypertensives). Then, using BP values as continuous variables, linear, U-curve, and...
Drawing on E. Durkheim's [(1915) The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, London: George Allen... more Drawing on E. Durkheim's [(1915) The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, London: George Allen & Unwin] discussion of religious holy-days and on his argument regarding the implications of institutional gender differences [(1897/1951) Suicide, New York: Free Press], it was hypothesized that holy days may affect mortality patterns differentially by gender. The present study focused on Moslems in Israel a very different social and religious context than those that have been studied before. The 1983-1992 data on Israeli Moslem deaths were used. After removing the long-term growth and the seasonal effects, women's mortality was found to be significantly greater in the month of Ramadan than in the month before, and in the two weeks before the feast of 'Id el-Adhha than in the two weeks after it. For men, mortality was higher in the two weeks after the feast of 'Id el-Fitr than in the two weeks before it. Religious holidays, then, have a different effect on the pattern of mortality of men and women, reflecting their different roles in the preparation and celebration of the holy day rites. Almost a century ago, Durkheim (1897/1951) argued that as a result of gender role differentiation, institutional arrangements that foster social integration (such as marriage) may be more beneficial for men than for women. During the century since Suicide was first published, several studies have documented the contribution of social integration to longevity of both 1This research was supported by Grant No. 19/94 of the Israel Foundation Trustees. Data were obtained with the kind assistance of the Social Science Data Archive,
A bio-psycho-social approach to the premenstrual syndrome suggests that cyclical hormonal changes... more A bio-psycho-social approach to the premenstrual syndrome suggests that cyclical hormonal changes are acknowledged and interpreted in light of the expectations and the attitudes acquired in the process of socialization. In this study, attitudes toward menstruation and premenstrual experiences of 229 Israeli students of different ethnic groups and gender role orientations were explored. The findings were consistent with previous reports: attitudes toward menstruation and premenstrual experiences were associated with exposure to premenstrual symptoms in women family members and negative messages during adolescence; respondents of a more traditional background perceived menstruation as relatively debilitating and bothersome but also a natural event and reported more severe experiences. However, models aimed at estimating the causal relationship indicated that attitudes toward menstruation depend on premenstrual experiences rather than predict them. The difficulties of investigating suc...
The importance of personal and collective resources in coping with recent life events was studied... more The importance of personal and collective resources in coping with recent life events was studied among 230 kibbutz members. The sense of coherence, a global life orientation that detects the ability to avoid stressors and to choose appropriate coping strategies and resources, represented personal resources. Collective resources, embedded in the social system to which one belongs, were measured by membership in a religious kibbutz, the kibbutz being viewed as a powerful, collective-coping resource by itself. Physical well-being, psychological distress, and functional limitations were used as outcome measures. Both types of resources have a salutogenic effect, but sense of coherence appears to be a better resource for avoiding the effect of recent life events and for moderating psychological distress and functional limitation after experiencing such events. The two types of resources have no additive effect, nor do they compensate for each other. Only one significant interaction was ...
The purpose of this study was to examine how allopathic physicians participate in the decision to... more The purpose of this study was to examine how allopathic physicians participate in the decision to refer patients for alternative therapies. A pretested, self-administered, structured questionnaire was distributed simultaneously to all area physicians at community locations in Washington State, New Mexico, and southern Israel. The primary outcome measures were monthly and yearly rates of referral to alternative therapies. More than 60% of all physicians made referrals to alternative providers at least once in the preceding year and 38% in the preceding month. Referrals were generally based on patient requests, synergy between the alternative therapy and the patients' cultural beliefs, failure of conventional treatment, and the belief that patients have "nonorganic" or "psychological" disease. There was no relationship between the rate of referral and the referring physician's level of knowledge about, beliefs about the effectiveness of, or familiarity with...
Parents of 43 children with celiac disease, 28% of whom were classified as noncompliant, were int... more Parents of 43 children with celiac disease, 28% of whom were classified as noncompliant, were interviewed. The knowledge, attitudes, and dietary behavior of parents of compliant patients were compared with those of noncompliant patients. Parents of compliant patients are better educated and from a higher social class. Although objective knowledge of the disease is similar in both groups, parents of compliant patients consider themselves adequately informed about the disease and are better able to choose gluten-free items from a menu. Parents of compliant patients are less worried about health in general but are more concerned with possible adverse effects celiac disease might have on the future of their children. Parents of both groups are not significantly different with regard to their understanding of the diet, the tendency to use medical care, and the perception of barriers to compliance or social support. It was concluded that to increase dietary compliance in celiac patients, ...
The effects of recently experienced life events (RLE) and of a personal coping resource--the sens... more The effects of recently experienced life events (RLE) and of a personal coping resource--the sense of coherence (SOC)--on the health of men and women were investigated among members of two small and cohesive communities--two kibbutzim in Israel (n = 230). Results of analyses lend support to previous findings about the negative effects of life events on health, and to Antonovsky's theory about the positive influence of SOC on health. Separate analyses for men and women, however, show that while RLEs negatively affect women's health, SOC has no significant counterbalancing effect on their health. Among men, an opposite pattern is found; their health is not affected by RLE, but is significantly affected by their SOC. Our findings lead to the conclusion that men and women are differentially affected by stressors and make different use of their coping resources. These findings should be taken into consideration in further research on stress, coping and health.
Partial compliance of health care workers with standard precaution (SP) guidelines has been exten... more Partial compliance of health care workers with standard precaution (SP) guidelines has been extensively documented. The aim of this study was to describe the development of nursing students' intentions to comply with SPs. Prospective cohort study. Two consecutive classes of a 4-year bachelor of nursing program completed questionnaires 3 times. The transtheoretical model of change was used to describe the change in intentions to comply with SPs. Factor analysis displayed 2 behavioral categories: commonly used standard precautions (CUSPs) and less commonly used standard precautions (LUSPs). Knowledge, risk perception, sense of coherence (SOC), safety climate (SC), and emphasis given by educators were evaluated as associated factors. Of the 91 students, 85 (93%) completed the questionnaire during their second year, 57 of 88 students (65%) completed it during the third year, and 70 of 82 students (85%) completed it at the end of the fourth year. Of the 82 students, 45 (55%) completed 3 measurements. CUSPs exhibited a rise from the second to the third year, with a moderate decline from the third to the fourth year, whereas LUSPs continued ascending. CUSPs were positively associated with SC and SOC; LUSPs were commonly associated with risk perception. The different evolution of CUSPs and LUSPs and dissimilar associations may suggest that different strategies might encourage diverse SP behaviors. Improving the SC might be appropriate when aiming to encourage CUSPs, and highlighting risks may be appropriate to encourage LUSPs.
The association between self-rated health and mortality has been well documented, but not complet... more The association between self-rated health and mortality has been well documented, but not completely understood. The purpose of this study was to search for the components of self-rated health among the elderly, drawing on the framework recently proposed by Jylhä (2009) and the degree to which these predict survival. 535 seniors were interviewed, of whom 121 passed away during the seven years that followed. Self-rated health was significantly related to a variety of health and social indicators, which appeared to be represented by five health and three social characteristics: chronic conditions, physical functioning, the ability to perform daily activity, mental health, body pain, economic state, expected future health, and peers' health. Contrary to Jylhä's (2009) suggestion, formal signs of illness and diagnosed life threatening conditions were not related to self-rated health. Self-rated health was related to mortality along with age, sex, physical and cognitive functioning, and systolic blood pressure. Only physical functioning predicted both mortality and self-rated health. It appears that selfrated health is comprised of health information that is not directly related to mortality.
concepts, and a potential to improve long term cv health through middle school education delivere... more concepts, and a potential to improve long term cv health through middle school education delivered by public health nurses.
The importance of personal and collective resources in coping with recent life events was studied... more The importance of personal and collective resources in coping with recent life events was studied among 230 kibbutz members. The sense of coherence, a global life orientation that detects the ability to avoid stressors and to choose appropriate coping strategies and resources, represented personal resources. Collective resources, embedded in the social system to which one belongs, were measured by membership in a religious kibbutz, the kibbutz being viewed as a powerful, collective-coping resource by itself. Physical well-being, psychological distress, and functional limitations were used as outcome measures. Both types of resources have a salutogenic effect, but sense of coherence appears to be a better resource for avoiding the effect of recent life events and for moderating psychological distress and functional limitation after experiencing such events. The two types of resources have no additive effect, nor do they compensate for each other. Only one significant interaction was found, suggesting that the combination of the two resources is useful in avoiding functional limitation. It is also suggested that collective resources have a slight positive effect on personal resources, which, in turn, take over and become most valuable in coping with recent life events. When stress affects social functioning, these same personal resources facilitate the mobilization of whatever collective resources are available.
Gender differences in health and health behavior are well established in Western societies, but l... more Gender differences in health and health behavior are well established in Western societies, but little is known about gender health inequalities in rural China. We examine patterns of age-sex differences in health and health behavior of men and women in rural HeBei, People's Republic of China, and consider the extent to which these patterns resemble gender health inequalities observed in North America and Western Europe. The data analyzed were collected from 14,895 individuals residing in 288 villages in the HeBei Province. The results show that gender differences emerged at a later age than generally reported in Western societies. Poorer health among women, as compared with men, becomes observable during young adulthood (25-44) rather than at adolescence, and reached its peak among older adults (45-59) rather than during the productive and reproductive stage of the life course. Among the elderly, the differences between the health and the health behavior of men and women narrowed, similar to many reports in North America and Western Europe. Most importantly, no gender differences in mental health were observed. These findings suggest that the older adult age group (45-59) may be appropriate for interdisciplinary efforts to advance the understanding regarding the relative contributions of nature and nurture to gender differences in health.
Almost five decades ago, the Chinese Communist Party wished to abolish all "remnants of ... more Almost five decades ago, the Chinese Communist Party wished to abolish all "remnants of feudalism," including the patriarchal social order. Just one year after the revolution, the Marriage Law endorsed women's rights within the family, but no operative measures were taken to enforce it. Some of the economic reforms since independence even strengthened patrilocality and, possibly, patriarchal values. The purpose of this study was to explore the degree to which patrilocality served to maintain the traditional patriarchal stratification among women in the household by exploring women's health patterns and utilization of health services. Data were collected from 3859 women residing in rural Hebei, and variation in health and help seeking of six categories of relation to household head--mothers, wives, daughters, daughters-in-law, family heads, and other relatives--were explored. Utilization of health services is not dependent on women's position in the household, but primarily on per-capita income. Health patterns seem to indicate that mothers of the head of the household still have a considerable power to define their roles and share of household work. Women head of family, most of whom are married, appear to be under strain, which could be a result of their culturally "deviant" position. We conclude that old patriarchal values are intertwined with values of equality in current rural China.
The associations among health status, health behavior, and changes in human cytomegalovirus (HCMV... more The associations among health status, health behavior, and changes in human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) specific salivary antibodies during academic stress were investigated in relation to academic achievement among nursing and physiotherapy students. Fifty-four first year students donated saliva samples and completed a pencil and paper questionnaire before (t1), during two term examinations (t2 and t3), and after grades were posted (t4). An increase in the level of specific salivary HCMV IgG and IgA antibodies from t1 to t2, and a decrease from t2 to t4 were related to academic success. Health status and health behavior remained fairly stable during the stress period. The results are congruent with the inverted U-shape model of stress and learning suggested by Yerkes & Dodson (1908).
This paper reviews the longitudinal studies in which the association between hypertension and cog... more This paper reviews the longitudinal studies in which the association between hypertension and cognitive functioning has been explored. The findings of these studies are far from being consistent: positive, adverse, or no relationships between cognitive performance and blood pressure have been reported. In some studies, cognitive functioning was related only to systolic blood pressure, whereas in others, it was related to diastolic blood pressure alone. Most probably, the inconsistency is due to the variability in research design, the measures employed, and data management. Some of the main methodological issues are the wide range in the age of the subjects and the variability in hypertension at baseline. Length of exposure to hypertension was rarely considered, and the search for the possible effects of the different antihypertensive treatments on cognitive ability is in its infancy. Many studies seek to identify cognitively impaired elderly and do not distinguish between the differ...
The morbidity and mortality benefits of blood pressure (BP) control for the elderly is well docum... more The morbidity and mortality benefits of blood pressure (BP) control for the elderly is well documented. The cognitive consequences of hypertension control in this population, however, are still under debate. We aim to study the association between BP and cognitive performance in the elderly. Specifically, we explore 1) the possibility that BP is differentially associated with various cognitive domains; and 2) the utility of analyzing both BP and cognitive scores as continuous variables to unravel possible nonlinear associations. Four hundred ninety-five community living 70 to 85 year olds completed eight cognitive tests that measured memory, concentration, visual retention, verbal fluency, and the mini-mental state examination (MMSE). The performance of each test was analyzed first by comparing four groups (normotensives, normalized hypertensives, untreated hypertensives, and treated but uncontrolled hypertensives). Then, using BP values as continuous variables, linear, U-curve, and...
Drawing on E. Durkheim's [(1915) The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, London: George Allen... more Drawing on E. Durkheim's [(1915) The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, London: George Allen & Unwin] discussion of religious holy-days and on his argument regarding the implications of institutional gender differences [(1897/1951) Suicide, New York: Free Press], it was hypothesized that holy days may affect mortality patterns differentially by gender. The present study focused on Moslems in Israel a very different social and religious context than those that have been studied before. The 1983-1992 data on Israeli Moslem deaths were used. After removing the long-term growth and the seasonal effects, women's mortality was found to be significantly greater in the month of Ramadan than in the month before, and in the two weeks before the feast of 'Id el-Adhha than in the two weeks after it. For men, mortality was higher in the two weeks after the feast of 'Id el-Fitr than in the two weeks before it. Religious holidays, then, have a different effect on the pattern of mortality of men and women, reflecting their different roles in the preparation and celebration of the holy day rites. Almost a century ago, Durkheim (1897/1951) argued that as a result of gender role differentiation, institutional arrangements that foster social integration (such as marriage) may be more beneficial for men than for women. During the century since Suicide was first published, several studies have documented the contribution of social integration to longevity of both 1This research was supported by Grant No. 19/94 of the Israel Foundation Trustees. Data were obtained with the kind assistance of the Social Science Data Archive,
A bio-psycho-social approach to the premenstrual syndrome suggests that cyclical hormonal changes... more A bio-psycho-social approach to the premenstrual syndrome suggests that cyclical hormonal changes are acknowledged and interpreted in light of the expectations and the attitudes acquired in the process of socialization. In this study, attitudes toward menstruation and premenstrual experiences of 229 Israeli students of different ethnic groups and gender role orientations were explored. The findings were consistent with previous reports: attitudes toward menstruation and premenstrual experiences were associated with exposure to premenstrual symptoms in women family members and negative messages during adolescence; respondents of a more traditional background perceived menstruation as relatively debilitating and bothersome but also a natural event and reported more severe experiences. However, models aimed at estimating the causal relationship indicated that attitudes toward menstruation depend on premenstrual experiences rather than predict them. The difficulties of investigating suc...
The importance of personal and collective resources in coping with recent life events was studied... more The importance of personal and collective resources in coping with recent life events was studied among 230 kibbutz members. The sense of coherence, a global life orientation that detects the ability to avoid stressors and to choose appropriate coping strategies and resources, represented personal resources. Collective resources, embedded in the social system to which one belongs, were measured by membership in a religious kibbutz, the kibbutz being viewed as a powerful, collective-coping resource by itself. Physical well-being, psychological distress, and functional limitations were used as outcome measures. Both types of resources have a salutogenic effect, but sense of coherence appears to be a better resource for avoiding the effect of recent life events and for moderating psychological distress and functional limitation after experiencing such events. The two types of resources have no additive effect, nor do they compensate for each other. Only one significant interaction was ...
The purpose of this study was to examine how allopathic physicians participate in the decision to... more The purpose of this study was to examine how allopathic physicians participate in the decision to refer patients for alternative therapies. A pretested, self-administered, structured questionnaire was distributed simultaneously to all area physicians at community locations in Washington State, New Mexico, and southern Israel. The primary outcome measures were monthly and yearly rates of referral to alternative therapies. More than 60% of all physicians made referrals to alternative providers at least once in the preceding year and 38% in the preceding month. Referrals were generally based on patient requests, synergy between the alternative therapy and the patients' cultural beliefs, failure of conventional treatment, and the belief that patients have "nonorganic" or "psychological" disease. There was no relationship between the rate of referral and the referring physician's level of knowledge about, beliefs about the effectiveness of, or familiarity with...
Parents of 43 children with celiac disease, 28% of whom were classified as noncompliant, were int... more Parents of 43 children with celiac disease, 28% of whom were classified as noncompliant, were interviewed. The knowledge, attitudes, and dietary behavior of parents of compliant patients were compared with those of noncompliant patients. Parents of compliant patients are better educated and from a higher social class. Although objective knowledge of the disease is similar in both groups, parents of compliant patients consider themselves adequately informed about the disease and are better able to choose gluten-free items from a menu. Parents of compliant patients are less worried about health in general but are more concerned with possible adverse effects celiac disease might have on the future of their children. Parents of both groups are not significantly different with regard to their understanding of the diet, the tendency to use medical care, and the perception of barriers to compliance or social support. It was concluded that to increase dietary compliance in celiac patients, ...
The effects of recently experienced life events (RLE) and of a personal coping resource--the sens... more The effects of recently experienced life events (RLE) and of a personal coping resource--the sense of coherence (SOC)--on the health of men and women were investigated among members of two small and cohesive communities--two kibbutzim in Israel (n = 230). Results of analyses lend support to previous findings about the negative effects of life events on health, and to Antonovsky's theory about the positive influence of SOC on health. Separate analyses for men and women, however, show that while RLEs negatively affect women's health, SOC has no significant counterbalancing effect on their health. Among men, an opposite pattern is found; their health is not affected by RLE, but is significantly affected by their SOC. Our findings lead to the conclusion that men and women are differentially affected by stressors and make different use of their coping resources. These findings should be taken into consideration in further research on stress, coping and health.
Partial compliance of health care workers with standard precaution (SP) guidelines has been exten... more Partial compliance of health care workers with standard precaution (SP) guidelines has been extensively documented. The aim of this study was to describe the development of nursing students' intentions to comply with SPs. Prospective cohort study. Two consecutive classes of a 4-year bachelor of nursing program completed questionnaires 3 times. The transtheoretical model of change was used to describe the change in intentions to comply with SPs. Factor analysis displayed 2 behavioral categories: commonly used standard precautions (CUSPs) and less commonly used standard precautions (LUSPs). Knowledge, risk perception, sense of coherence (SOC), safety climate (SC), and emphasis given by educators were evaluated as associated factors. Of the 91 students, 85 (93%) completed the questionnaire during their second year, 57 of 88 students (65%) completed it during the third year, and 70 of 82 students (85%) completed it at the end of the fourth year. Of the 82 students, 45 (55%) completed 3 measurements. CUSPs exhibited a rise from the second to the third year, with a moderate decline from the third to the fourth year, whereas LUSPs continued ascending. CUSPs were positively associated with SC and SOC; LUSPs were commonly associated with risk perception. The different evolution of CUSPs and LUSPs and dissimilar associations may suggest that different strategies might encourage diverse SP behaviors. Improving the SC might be appropriate when aiming to encourage CUSPs, and highlighting risks may be appropriate to encourage LUSPs.
The association between self-rated health and mortality has been well documented, but not complet... more The association between self-rated health and mortality has been well documented, but not completely understood. The purpose of this study was to search for the components of self-rated health among the elderly, drawing on the framework recently proposed by Jylhä (2009) and the degree to which these predict survival. 535 seniors were interviewed, of whom 121 passed away during the seven years that followed. Self-rated health was significantly related to a variety of health and social indicators, which appeared to be represented by five health and three social characteristics: chronic conditions, physical functioning, the ability to perform daily activity, mental health, body pain, economic state, expected future health, and peers' health. Contrary to Jylhä's (2009) suggestion, formal signs of illness and diagnosed life threatening conditions were not related to self-rated health. Self-rated health was related to mortality along with age, sex, physical and cognitive functioning, and systolic blood pressure. Only physical functioning predicted both mortality and self-rated health. It appears that selfrated health is comprised of health information that is not directly related to mortality.
Uploads
Papers by Ofra Anson