Self-Rated Health and Physical Disability in Elderly Survivors of a Major Medical Event

This article describes change and stability in self-rated health after a major medical event. Using a prospective design, it examines the ability of premorbid and post-illness health perceptions to predict physical disability independently of medical, psychosocial, and behavioral variables. Participants (N=254) were a subsample of the New Haven cohort of the Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE) project who had survived hospitalization for stroke, myocardial infarction, or hip fracture. Data came from premorbid EPESE interviews, medical records, and interviews at 6 weeks and at 6 months after hospitalization. Health perceptions did not universally decline after the illness. Self-rated health at 6 weeks predicted disability at 6 months, but premorbid self-rated health did not, suggesting that illness-related changes in health perceptions influenced the recovery process. The effects of 6-week self-rated health on disability were independent of physical inactivity. The mechanisms by which health perceptions influence recovery are unclear.