Skip to main content

Self-Rated Health of Italian Elderly

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research

Synonyms

Perception of health of old Italian people; Subjective health of old Italians

Definition

Self-rated health is the evaluation that individuals give about their health, as the result of multiple and complex interactions of physical, psychological, and social aspects of health. When assessing their condition, people are able to account simultaneously for all the dimensions that constitute the concept of health, making self-rated health a global, complete, and reliable evaluation of individual health status and general well-being. Many studies suggest that self-rated health may be modified by demographics, as well as by social and economic factors, that it is a valid predictor of mortality, and is closely linked to objective health conditions, particularly for elderly people.

Description

Self-rated health (SRH, also called self-reported health or perceived health) is the individual evaluation that people give about their health. When reporting their health status, individuals...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Avlund, K., Holstein, B. E., Osler, M., Damsgaard, M. T., Holm-Pedersen, P., & Rasmussen, N. K. (2003). Social position and health in old age: The relevance of different indicators of social position. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 31(2), 126–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borg, V., & Kristensen, T. S. (2000). Social class and self-rated health: Can the gradient be explained by differences in life style or work environment? Social Science & Medicine, 51, 1019–1030.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costa, G., Marinacci, C., Caiazzo, A., & Spadea, T. (2003). Individual and contextual determinants of inequalities in health: The Italian case. International Journal of Health Services, 33, 635–667.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costa-Font, J. (2008). Housing assets and the socio-economic determinants of health and disability in old age. Health & Place, 14(3), 478–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cummins, S., Stafford, M., Macintyre, S., Marmot, M., & Ellaway, A. (2005). Neighborhood environment and its association with self-rated health: Evidence from Scotland and England. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 59, 207–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Demakokos, P., Nazroo, J., Breeze, E., & Marmot, M. (2008). Socio-economic status and health: The role of subjective social status. Social Science & Medicine, 67(2), 330–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diez Roux, A. V. (2001). Investigating neighborhood and area effects on health. American Journal of Public Health, 91, 1783–1789.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Egidi, V., & Spizzichino, D. (2007). Dimensioni oggettive e soggettive delle differenze di genere nella salute [Objective and subjective dimensions in gender health differentials]. In A. Pinnelli, F. Racioppi, & L. Terzera (Eds.), Genere, Famiglia e Salute. Milano: Franco Angeli Editore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grundy, E., & Holt, G. (2001). The socio-economic status of older adults: How should we measure it in studies of health inequalities? Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 55, 895–904.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grundy, E., & Slogget, A. (2003). Health inequalities in the older population: The role of personal capital, social resources and socio-economic circumstances. Social Science & Medicine, 56, 935–947.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawton, A., Green, C., Dickens, A. P., Richards, S. H., Taylor, R. S., Edwards, R., Greaves, C. J., & Campbell, J. L. (2011). The impact of social isolation on the health status and health-related quality of life of older people. Quality of Life Research, 20, 57–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Idler, E. L., & Benyamini, Y. (1997). Self-rated health and mortality: A review of twenty-seven community studies. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 38(1), 21–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mackenbach, J. P., Stirbu, I., Roskam, A. R., Schaap, M. M., Menvielle, G., Leinsalu, M., & Kunst, A. E. (2008). European Union Working Group on Socio-economic Inequalities in Health in 22 European countries. The New England Journal of Medicine, 358, 2468–2481.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNiece, R., & Majeed, A. (1999). Socio-economic differences in general practice consultation rates in patients aged 65 and over: Prospective cohort study. BMJ, 319, 26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, R., Gleave, S., Bertley, M., Wiggins, D., & Joshi, H. (2000). Do attitude and area influence health? A multilevel approach to health inequalities. Health & Place, 6, 67–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molarius, A., Berglund, K., Eriksson, C., Lambe, M., Bordstrom, E., Eriksson, H. G., et al. (2006). Socio-economic conditions, lifestyle factors, and self-rated health among men and women in Sweden. European Journal of Public Health, 17(2), 125–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ocampo, J. M. (2010). Self-rated health: Importance of use in elderly adults. Colombia Médica, 41(3), 275–289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olsen, K. M., & Dahl, S. (2007). Health differences between European countries. Social Science & Medicine, 64, 1665–1678.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickett, K. E., & Pearl, M. (2001). Multilevel analysis of neighborhood socio-economic context and health outcomes: A critical review. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 55, 111–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pirani, E. (2019). L’istruzione fa la differenza? Aspetti demografici [Does education make difference? Demographic aspects]. In G. De Santis (Ed.), Rapporto sulla popolazione. L’istruzione in Italia. Il Mulino: Elena Pirani e Mariano Porcu.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pirani, E., & Salvini, S. (2012a). Place of living and health inequality: A study for elderly Italians. Statistical Methods and Applications, 21(2), 211–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pirani, E., & Salvini, S. (2012b). Socio-economic inequalities self-rated health: A multilevel study of Italian elderly. Population Research and Policy Review, 31(1), 97–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Volkers, A. C., Westert, G. P., & Schellevis, F. G. (2007). Health disparities by occupation, modified by education: A cross-sectional population study. BMC Public Health, 8(7), 196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Von dem Knesebeck, O., Luschen, G., Cockerham, W. C., & Siegrist, J. (2003). Socio-economic status and health among the aged in the United States and Germany: A comparative cross-sectional study. Social Science & Medicine, 57, 1643–1652.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Von dem Knesebeck, O., Verde, P. E., & Dragano, N. (2006). Education and health in 22 European countries. Social Science & Medicine, 63, 1344–1351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elena Pirani .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Section Editor information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Pirani, E. (2021). Self-Rated Health of Italian Elderly. In: Maggino, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69909-7_4108-2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69909-7_4108-2

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69909-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69909-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Social SciencesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics