Cross-classification between self-rated health and health status: longitudinal analyses of all-cause mortality and leading causes of death in the UK

Abstract Risk stratification is an important public health priority that is central to clinical decision making and resource allocation. The aim of this study was to examine how different combinations of self-rated and objective health status predict all-cause mortality and leading causes of death in the UK. The UK Biobank study recruited > 500,000 participants between 2006 and 2010. Self-rated health was assessed using a single-item question and health status was derived from medical history, including data on 81 cancer and 443 non-cancer illnesses. Analyses included > 370,000 middle-aged and older adults with a median follow-up of 11.75 (IQR = 1.4) years, yielding 4,320,270 person-years of follow-up. Compared to individuals with excellent self-rated health and favourable health status, individuals with other combinations of self-rated and objective health status had a greater mortality risk, with hazard ratios ranging from HR = 1.22 (95% CI 1.15–1.29, P Bonf. < 0.001) for individuals with good self-rated health and favourable health status to HR = 7.14 (95% CI 6.70–7.60, P Bonf. < 0.001) for individuals with poor self-rated health and unfavourable health status. Our findings highlight that self-rated health captures additional health-related information and should be more widely assessed. The cross-classification between self-rated health and health status represents a straightforward metric for risk stratification, with applications to population health, clinical decision making and resource allocation.