Survival and self-evaluations

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  Dec, 2005  by Robert A. Anderson

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

Baseline evaluations in 2,800 persons over age 65 assessed lifestyle; level of medical care available; external resources (family, community); "internal" resources (optimism, depression, attitudes and feelings); physical disability; biological risk factors; presence of overt disease; and self-assessed ratings of health. Four years later, those with self-assessed ratings of "poor" health were 6.7 times as likely to have died vs. the "excellent" self-rated group regardless of the status of any of the other factors.

Idler EL, Kasl S. Health perceptions and survival: do global evaluations of health status really predict mortality? J Gerontol 1991 Mar; 46(2):S55-S65

COMMENT: The significance of this study has been missed by many. If valid, these results mean that a person with cancer who truly believes that s/he is in excellent health would survive better than a healthy person who believes that s/he is in poor health. Of course, the realities of the presence of disease strongly impact beliefs in most people in such circumstances. One is reminded of the documented case history of an elderly woman who collapsed in death on the street when threatened by a mugging, even though she was never touched by the mugger. This study speaks to the power of belief, which is an underestimated and underused factor in patient-practitioner relationships.

COPYRIGHT 2005 The Townsend Letter Group
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group