Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Background Self-reported health status is a strong predictor of future health status including the development of other health problems or death because of these problems. Previous studies have shown that this measure is related to many factors, but it is not understood how these factors influence self-reported health ratings. The purpose of this review was to describe what factors international research has described as influencing self-reported health. Methods A scoping review was completed. Four hundred and thirty-one articles were identified from four databases. Eighteen additional articles were identified through hand searching reference lists. Articles and information was reviewed by two independent reviewers. Results Thirty studies were included in the review. Forty-two individual factors were identified. These forty-two factors were found to influence self-reported health among older adults living in the community. Most of the studies included in this review identified that the presence of multiple chronic conditions and the presence of depressive symptoms decreased self-reported health. These findings suggest that the presence of multiple chronic conditions and the presence of depressive symptoms have an important influence on self-reported health and that there is a need to further explore how these factors influence this measure. Conclusion and Next Steps Factors that influence self-reported health are broad. Further research is needed to understand how the presence of multiple chronic conditions and depressive symptoms influences self-reported health. It is important to understand the ways that self-reported health is influenced as this understanding may inform the design of new interventions that can help promote health in a growing population.