Journal Article

Sociodemographic differentials of the self-rated health of the oldest-old Chinese

Abstract

This study explores the correlation between sociodemographic factors and the self-rated health status of the oldest-old Chinese (80 and older). The data were from the Healthy Longevity Survey in China conducted in 1998. We applied a stereotype ordered regression model to capture the ordinal nature of the response variable. We found that age group, sex, living arrangement, educational attainment, and occupational history were associated signi-ficantly with the self-rated health status of the oldest-old Chinese, and the elderly with lower social status tended to negatively evaluate health status. We reached the conclusions after con-trolling such variables as the capacity of physical performance of daily activities and chronic diseases.