Perceived health and mortality of the older persons in a population undergoing ageing

This study aimed to explore the relationship of perceived health with all-cause mortality among the older persons in Thailand. The data from the National Health Examination Survey III (NHES III) conducted in 2004 were linked to 2004-2008 death records from vital registration system using a unique personal identifier which existed in both data sources. The total samples of 17 439 older persons aged 60 years and older were analyzed using the Cox proportional hazard model. Survival time was calculated as the interval between interview date and date of death or until the date of 31st August 2008 if those older persons were still alive.

The findings indicated that mortality increased across bad health status. The older persons who had fair perceived health were 1.21 (95% CI 1.10-1.34) times more likely to die than very good/good health counterparts and the bad/very bad perceived health older persons were 1.66 (95% CI 1.46-1.88) times more likely to die than the very good/good health older persons.