Changes in Self-Assessment of Health: Comparison of Self-Perception and Self-Ratings Score Measures Among Young-Old Persons

Most geriatric screening devices include the self-ratings of health scale as a useful collateral source of information on elders' health status and their need for social and health services. In this study, I reviewed extant research findings on subjective assessment of health and then compared the congruence and discrepancy between the commonly used self-ratings scale and the less frequently used self-perception scale as measures of longitudinal stability or changes in health status among the young-old. Analysis of data from the 1992 and 1994 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) shows that the restricted range of the self-ratings scale poses a limitation when the scale is used to measure changes in health status over time. It was also found that the self-ratings scale may reflect a more horizontal, social-comparison dimension and that the self-perception measure may reflect a more vertical, temporal-comparison dimension in subjective assessment of longitudinal changes in health status. Social workers need to be aware of the strengths and limitations of both measures when they use them. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.