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Overall self‐rated health as an outcome indicator in primary care
Author(s) -
Rohrer James E.,
Arif Ahmed,
Denison Anne,
Young Rodney,
Adamson Steve
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of evaluation in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.737
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2753
pISSN - 1356-1294
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2753.2006.00766.x
Subject(s) - medicine , logistic regression , odds ratio , confidence interval , health care , self rated health , community health , test (biology) , mental health , odds , family medicine , cross sectional study , environmental health , primary care , gerontology , public health , nursing , psychiatry , paleontology , pathology , economics , biology , economic growth
Rationale, aims and objectives The ultimate goal of health care systems is to improve overall health from the patient’s point of view. However, overall self‐rated health is not routinely monitored as a performance indicator. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using a measure normally employed in community health surveys as a quality indicator in primary care clinics. Methods In order to do so, we conducted a cross‐sectional survey of community medicine patients treated in five clinics in Amarillo, Texas to test the theory that, in primary care patients, a single‐item measure of self‐rated health is significantly related to the usual risk factors found in community health surveys (environmental factors, demographic characteristics and health behaviours). Results Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that age, race, frequent mental distress, current smoking and health confidence were independently related to the odds of reporting good health. Conclusion Our results support using a single‐item measure of self‐rated health in primary care. Our data also suggest that e ncouragement of health confidence would appear to be in the best interests of patients.