Association of the global activity limitation indicator with specific measures of disability in adults aged below 65

Abstract

Background: Summary health measures as the global activity limitation indicator (GALI) or self-rated health (SRH) allow to quantify and monitor the health of the population. The GALI is widely used in the European Union; however, evidence of its construct validity is still limited. We examine whether the GALI reflects disability in specific living contexts such as self-care, domestic life and work activity, whether it does so consistently across gender and age and its added value concerning SRH. Methods: We used the subsample of adults aged 16–64 years (N = 15 934) from the 2009 European Health Interview Survey in Spain and analyzed the data with logistic regression models using the GALI and SRH as response variables. Results: The GALI was strongly and significantly associated with the three measures of disability: self-care (OR = 22.8, 95% CI: 15.9–32.7), domestic life (OR = 16.3, 95% CI: 13.6–19.5) and work activity (e.g. impossibility to work: OR = 41.9, 95% CI: 30.3–57.8; prolonged sick leave: OR = 10.7, 95% CI: 9–12.7). There were significant interactions with age on all three disability measures and with the gender on one (domestic life), although they were small. SRH was also strongly associated with all three disability measures, but to a lesser extent than the GALI. Conclusions: The GALI reflects well and better than SRH, disability in self-care, domestic life and work activity. It is unknown whether the GALI performs equally in other living contexts such as social relations and community life.