Ten-year Trends in Self-rated Health among Spanish Adults

Improving health-related quality of life among persons with diabetes is a public health goal. This study sought to assess trends in self-rated “fair and poor health” among Spanish adults with diabetes, and to identify factors associated with “fair and poor health” using data from all five National Health Surveys conducted from 1993 to 2003.The most relevant finding of this study is that, among Spanish adults with diabetes, prevalence of “fair or poor heath” is more than double that of persons without diabetes and that overall prevalence of “fair or poor heath” in Spain did not vary during the decade 1993-2003 (71.2% to 70.5%). The variables associated with an increased risk of self-rated “fair or poor health”, were: age 5464 years (OR 1.5), ≥ 65 (OR 2.1); presence of comorbidity, (OR 4.3); female gender (OR 1.2); lower educational level (OR 1.7); obesity (OR 1.3); and no physical activity (OR 1.6).