Self-Rated Health
In general, would you say your health is:............................................(Circle one)
Excellent...............................1
Very good.............................2
Good ....................................3
Fair .......................................4
Poor......................................5
Scoring
Score the number circled. If two consecutive numbers are circled, choose the higher number (worse
health); if two non-consecutive numbers are circled, do not score. The score is the value of this single
item only. A higher score indicates poorer health.
Characteristics
Tested on 1,129 subjects with chronic disease. N=51 for test-retest.
No. of
items
Observed
Range
Mean
Standard
Deviation
Internal Consistency
Reliability
Test-Retest
Reliability
1 1-5 3.29 .91 .92
Source of Psychometric Data
Stanford Chronic Disease Self-Management Study. Psychometrics reported in Lorig K, Stewart A,
Ritter P, Gonzlez V, Laurent D, & Lynch J, Outcome Measures for Health Education and other Health
Care Interventions. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications, 1996, p.25.
Comments
This item is used in the National Health Interview Survey. In a number of studies self-rated health has
been found to be an excellent predictor of future health. This scale available in Spanish.
References
Idler EL, & Angel RJ, Self-rated health and mortality in the NHANES-I epidemiologic follow-up study.
American Journal of Public Health, 80, 1990, pp.446-452.
Schoenfeld DE, Malmrose LC, Blazer DG, Gold DT, & Seeman TE, Self-rated health and mortality in
the high-functioning elderly: A closer look at healthy individuals; MacArthur Field Study of Successful
Aging. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, 49, 1994, pp.M109-M115.
U.S. Bureau of the Census, National Health Interview Survey. Washington DC: U.S. Dept. of
Commerce, 1985.
Ware JE Jr, Nelson EC, Sherbourne CD, & Stewart AL, Preliminary tests of a 6-item general health
survey: A patient application; in AL Stewart & JE Ware Jr (Eds), Measuring Functioning and Well-
Being: The Medical Outcomes Study Approach, Durham NC: Duke University Press, 1992, pp.291-303.
Wolinsky FD, & Johnson RJ, Perceived health status and mortality among older men and women.
Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 47, 1992, pp.S304-S312.
This scale is free to use without permission
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