Self-perceived haelth status of empty-nest elderly people in rural Anhui

ObjectiveTo investigate self-perceived health status and relevant factors of empty-nest elderly people in the rural of Anhui province.MethodsThe empty-nest elderly people were investigated with five-grade evaluation of self-reported health status.ResultsTotally 1600 elderly people(≥60)were interviewed, including 739 non-empty-nestpeople and 861 empty-nestpeople.Compared with non-empty-nest elderly people, the empty-nest elderly people had poorer self-perceived health status (u=2.524, P=0.012).The female had poorer self-perceived health status than the male (u=3.403, P=0.000).The elderly solitaries had poorer health than the people living with spouse (u=2.930, P=0.003).Self-perceived health status of the empty-nest elderly people was correlated with the kind of physical diseases(r_s=0.234, P=0.000) and adverse life events(r_s=0.268, P=0.000) the elderly experienced.ConclusionAlthough self-perceived health status is subjective, it can comprehensively reflect health status of people.So we should adoptmeasures to inprove self-perceived health status of the empty-nest elderly people.