台灣老年人口自評健康與功能障礙情形之轉變

Self-Rated Health and Functional Disability Status Transitions among the Elderly in Taiwan

董和銳(Ho-Jui Tung)

《身心障礙研究季刊》 3卷2期 (2005/06) Pp. 72-87

https://doi.org/10.30072/JDR.200506.0001

摘要

社會老年學(Social Gerontology)的研究指出，自評健康：「你認為自己的健康是很好、好、普通、不太好、還是很不好？」這樣一個簡短問項的背後所能代表的意涵似乎是超乎其字面上所顯示意義，因為這樣一個主觀的健康測量指標在預測後來的死亡情形時似乎可以解釋許多其他客觀健康指標所不能解釋的變異量。因為自評健康反映的是一個動態而非靜止於某一時點的健康。本研究利用「臺灣地區老人保健與生活問題長期追蹤研究」調查資料實證地檢視台灣老年人口之自評健康與其他客觀健康測量指標之間的關聯，另外本研究還分析了受訪老人在1993年與1996年之間自評健康之變化與他們的功能限制及日常生活障礙之間變化的關聯。結果顯示，就台灣的老年人而言，慢性疾病、功能限制與日常生活障礙全部都與自評健康有顯著的相關，而在自評健康在1993到1996年之間的變化方面，研究結果發現那些自評健康從「很好或好」變成「很差、不好或普通」的老人多半也是那些慢性疾病變多、功能障礙情形惡化的老人。因此我們可以說自評健康雖是一個主觀的健康評估，但卻是一個有實用價值的健康測量指標。

關鍵字

台灣 ； 功能障礙情形 ； 老人自評健康 ； 健康轉變

並列摘要

Self-Rated Health (SRH) has proven to be a useful predictor of many objective measures of health status such as mortality. It is believed that the predictive value of this single item may lie in the explanation that people incorporate their health changes into their health ratings, meaning that SRH actually reflects a person's health trajectory. Using data from two waves of a longitudinal survey (N=2,480) conducted in Taiwan, this study aims to examine the association between SRH and other objective health measures. Furthermore, those who rated their health as ”excellent/good” in 1993, their likelihood of having a downward transition in SRH is regressed on ethnicity, age, gender and education, controlling for the transitions in chronic disease, functional and disability status. The findings in this study are consistent with the notions that SRH reflects a person's health trajectory and the single-item of self-rated health is a useful and valid measurement for health status.

並列關鍵字

Elderly ； functional status ； health transitions ； self-rated health ； Taiwan

參考文獻

董和銳(2004)。族群與台灣老年人之日常生活障礙與功能限制。身心障礙研究。2，160-175。

董和銳(2003)。身心障礙之概念架構與社會意涵。身心障礙研究。1，32-42。

Benyamini Y.,Ilder E.L.(1999).Community Studies Reporting Associations Between Self-Rated Health and Mortality.Research on Aging.21,392-401.

Ferraro K.F.,Kelly-Moore,Jessica A.(2001).Self-rated Health and Mortality among Black and White Adults: Examining the Dynamic Evaluation Thesis.Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences.56B,195-205.

Frankenberg E.,Nathan R.J.(2004).Self-rated Health and Mortality: does the relationship extend to a low income setting?.Journal of Health and Social Behavior.45,441-452.