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Reporting biases in self-assessed physical and cognitive health status of older Europeans

Author

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  • Sonja Spitzer
  • Daniela Weber
Abstract
This paper explores which demographic characteristics substantially bias self-reported physical and cognitive health status of older Europeans. The analysis utilises micro-data for 19 European countries from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe to compare performance-tested outcomes of mobility and memory with their self-reported equivalents. Relative importance analysis based on multinomial logistic regressions shows that the bias in self-reported health is mostly due to reporting heterogeneities between countries and age groups, whereas gender contributes little to the discrepancy. Concordance of mobility and cognition measures is highly related; however, differences in reporting behaviour due to education and cultural background have a larger impact on self-assessed memory than on self-assessed mobility. Southern as well as Central and Eastern Europeans are much more likely to misreport their physical and cognitive abilities than Northern and Western Europeans. Overall, our results suggest that comparisons of self-reported health between countries and age groups are prone to significant biases, whereas comparisons between genders are credible for most European countries. These findings are crucial given that self-assessed data are often the only information available to researchers and policymakers when asking health-related questions.

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  • Sonja Spitzer & Daniela Weber, 2019. "Reporting biases in self-assessed physical and cognitive health status of older Europeans," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(10), pages 1-22, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0223526
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0223526
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Sonja Spitzer, 2020. "Biases in health expectancies due to educational differences in survey participation of older Europeans: It’s worth weighting for," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(4), pages 573-605, June.
    2. Quitterie Roquebert & Jonathan Sicsic & Thomas Rapp, 2021. "Health measures and long-term care use in the European frail population," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(3), pages 405-423, April.
    3. Arni, Patrick & Dragone, Davide & Goette, Lorenz & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2021. "Biased health perceptions and risky health behaviors—Theory and evidence," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    4. Angela Greulich & Sonja Spitzer & Bernhard Hammer, 2022. "The Subjective Cost of Young Children: A European Comparison," Post-Print hal-03677151, HAL.
    5. Thananon Buathong & Anna Dimitrova & Paolo Miguel M. Vicerra & Montakarn Chimmamee, 2021. "Years of Good Life: An illustration of a new well-being indicator using data for Thailand," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 19(1), pages 547-583.
    6. Etheridge, Ben & Spantig, Lisa, 2022. "The gender gap in mental well-being at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic: Evidence from the UK," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    7. Aurea Grané & Irene Albarrán & Qi Guo, 2021. "Visualizing Health and Well-Being Inequalities Among Older Europeans," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(2), pages 479-503, June.
    8. Spitzer, Sonja & Shaikh, Mujaheed, 2022. "Health misperception and healthcare utilisation among older Europeans," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).
    9. Rosália Páscoa & Andreia Teixeira & Micaela Gregório & Rosa Carvalho & Carlos Martins, 2021. "Patients’ Perspectives about Lifestyle Behaviors and Health in the Context of Family Medicine: A Cross-Sectional Study in Portugal," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-21, March.
    10. Sonja Spitzer & Angela Greulich & Bernhard Hammer, 2022. "The Subjective Cost of Young Children: A European Comparison," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 1165-1189, October.
    11. Zueras, Pilar & Grundy, Emily, 2024. "Assessing the impact of caregiving for older parents on caregivers' health: Initial health status and trajectories of physical and mental health among midlife caregivers for parents and parents-in-law," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 342(C).
    12. Mine Kühn & Carlos Díaz-Venegas & Domantas Jasilionis & Anna Oksuzyan, 2021. "Gender differences in health in Havana versus in Mexico City and in the US Hispanic population," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 217-226, June.
    13. Alejandra Marroig, 2023. "Transitions across states with and without difficulties in performing activities of daily living and death: a longitudinal comparison of ten European countries," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 1-12, December.
    14. Claudia Reiter & Sonja Spitzer, 2021. "Well-being in Europe: decompositions by country and gender for the population aged 50+," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 19(1), pages 383-415.
    15. Angela Greulich & Sonja Spitzer & Bernhard Hammer, 2022. "The Subjective Cost of Young Children: A European Comparison," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03677151, HAL.
    16. Laia Maynou & Helena M. Hernández-Pizarro & María Errea Rodríguez, 2021. "The Association of Physical (in)Activity with Mental Health. Differences between Elder and Younger Populations: A Systematic Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-34, April.
    17. Anna Barbuscia & Chiara Comolli, 2021. "Gender and socioeconomic inequalities in health and wellbeing across age in France and Switzerland," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 19(1), pages 215-254.

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