Self-rated health in individuals with and without disease is associated with multiple biomarkers representing multiple biological domains

Self-rated health (SRH) is one of the most frequently used indicators in health and social research. We used data from three independent European population samples (N approx. 15,000) to investigate the associations of SRH with 150 biomolecules in blood or urine (biomarkers). Altogether 57 biomarkers representing different organ systems were associated with SRH. We propose three potential pathways through which biomarkers may be incorporated into an individual’s subjective health assessment. Finally our findings indicate that SRH has a solid biological basis and it is a valid but non-specific indicator of the biological condition of the human organism.

Kananen L, Enroth L, Raitanen J, Jylhävä J, Bürkle A, Moreno-Villanueva M, Bernhardt J, Toussaint O, Grubeck-Loebenstein B, Malavolta M, Basso A, Piacenza F, Collino S, Gonos ES, Sikora E, Gradinaru D, Jansen EHJM, Dollé MET, Salmon M, Stuetz W, Weber D, Grune T, Breusing N, Simm A, Capri M, Franceschi C, Slagboom PE, Talbot DCS, Libert C, Koskinen S, Bruunsgaard H, Hansen AM, Lund R, Hurme M, Jylhä M

Sci Rep 11, 6139 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-85668-7