Self-Rated Health and Mortality among the Elderly in Matlab, Bangladesh

Nobuko Mizoguchi, University of Colorado at Boulder

While the relationship between self-rated health and mortality is well established in industrialized countries, the validity of self-rated health in low income countries has been questioned. To the extent that people are aware of their health condition regardless of access to health care, self-rated health should be a good predictor of subsequent mortality. However, the high prevalence of infectious diseases and injuries may mean that self-rated health has little relations to subsequent mortality. This study seeks to further our understanding of the relationship between self-rated health and mortality in Bangladesh, through the use of a unique longitudinal dataset from Matlab. Using data from the Matlab Health and Socioeconomic Survey and the Matlab Health and Demographic Surveillance System, the study examines correlates of self-reported health and the relationship between self-reported health and mortality. The results show that self-rated health is a good predictor of mortality even in low income settings.