Table 2

Relationship between self-rated health (as a continuous and dichotomous) variable and mortality


Cox proportional hazards ratio for death during the study
(95% confidence interval)


Male
Female

Self-rated health at entry



(a) Ordinal Variable


Very good
0.62 (0.23–1.68)
-
Good
0.84 (0.64–1.11)
1.73 (1.08–2.77)
Average
1
1
Poor
1.52 (1.20–1.93)
1.66 (1.29–2.14)
Very poor
2.40 (1.66–3.46)
2.49 (1.77–3.48)
P for trend
<0.001
<0.001

(b) Dichotomous variable


Very good/good/average
1
1
Poor/very poor
1.69 (1.36–2.10)
1.74 (1.38–2.20)

Perlman and Bobak International Journal for Equity in Health 2008 7:19   doi:10.1186/1475-9276-7-19