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Considerations for data production > Healthy Canadians >

65-HTL: Self-reported health

Definition
Rationale and notes for interpretation
Technical specifications
Data availability
Considerations for indicator quality and comparability
Responsibility to produce the data

Definition

Percent of the population aged 12 and older who report that their health is very good or excellent.


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Rationale and notes for interpretation

Self-reported health is a general indicator of the overall health status of individuals. It can include what other measures may miss: incipient disease, disease severity, some aspects of positive health status, physiologic/psychological reserve, social and mental function.

Self-reported health data is collected using a five point reporting scale, ranging from excellent to poor. Studies indicate that when individuals rate their health in response to this question, they tap into information that has important predictive power relating to chronic disease incidence, functional decline and ultimately survival. Numerous longitudinal studies have found that self-reported health is predictive of mortality even when more objective measures such as clinical evaluations are taken into account. Inconsistencies between self-reported health data from population surveys and best estimates from epidemiological studies (under-reporting of undiagnosed conditions, over-reporting of some conditions, lack of information on condition severity) may explain why measures of self-reported health do not have credibility with all groups. This indicator applies to individuals, 12 years old and older living in private households.


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Technical specifications

Exclusions:

Persons living on First Nation Reserves and on Crown lands, residents of institutions, full-time members of Canadian Armed Forces, and residents of certain remote regions are excluded from the sample.

Calculation:

(Numerator/denominator) x 100, with weighting adjusted to reflect non-response.

Numerator:

Estimated number of persons reporting excellent or very good health within a survey cycle for a given jurisdiction (response categories are excellent, very good, good, fair, poor).

Denominator:

Total population aged 12 and over in the jurisdiction.

Source:

Canadian Community Health Survey, 2003 and 2000/01; National Population Health Surveys (1994-95 to 1998-99).

References: Statistical Report on the Health of Canadians, ACPH, 1999, Health Reports, Vol. 11, No. 3 How healthy are Canadians?; NPHS and CCHS documentation and analysis found on /health_surveys, www.healthcanada.ca.

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Data availability

  • Crude and age-standardised data available by sex for Canada, the provinces and the territories.
  • Supplementary data also available by sex and age-group:
    Total, 12 years and over
    12 - 19 years
    20 - 34 years
    35 - 44 years
    45 - 64 years
    65 years and over.

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Considerations for indicator quality and comparability

No known issues.


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Responsibility to produce the data

Statistics Canada

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Date modified: 2004-12-01 Important Notices