Do Reporting Styles Affect the Predictive Utility of Self-rated Health?

Qiong Wu , Institute of Social Science Survey, Peking University
Peikang Zhang, Peking University

Self-rated health (SRH) has been shown to be related to mortality in many countries. A problem with SRH is the presence of different reporting styles. It is unclear how such heterogeneity may affect the predictive utility of SRH. This study intends to estimate the effect of SRH on mortality before and after we control for reporting heterogeneity. We used data from the nationally representative China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). CFPS respondents were asked to rate their own health as well as that of two hypothetical cases (i.e., anchoring vignettes) and themselves. We used two different approaches to adjusting for reporting styles. The results showed that SRH was predictive of the four-year mortality among Chinese men and women age 60+, but the effect was only significant for men after controlling for demographic variables and health indicators. Furthermore, adjusting for reporting styles in SRH did not increase the predictive utility of SRH.

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 Presented in Session 5. Health & Mortality 1