Poor self-rated health is significantly associated with elevated C-reactive protein levels in women, but not in men, in the Japanese general population

Objective ated health (SRH) is associated with risk for mortality, but its biological basis is poorly understood. We examined the association between SRH and low-grade inflammation in a Japanese general population. s l of 5142 men and 11,114 women aged 40 to 69 years were enrolled. SRH was assessed by a single question and classified into four categories: good, rather good, neither good nor poor, and poor. Serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels were measured by the latex-enhanced immunonephelometric method. Elevated CRP was defined as hsCRP level of 1.0 mg/L or higher. The association between SRH and elevated CRP was evaluated by using logistic regression with adjustment for age, socioeconomic status (job status, education and marital status), health-related behaviors (smoking status, drinking status, exercise habits and sleep duration), and cardiovascular risk factors (body mass index, systolic blood pressure, total- and HDL-cholesterol, HbA1c and prevalent stroke and/or myocardial infarction). s ed to persons with good SRH, persons with poor SRH had significantly higher risk for elevated CRP: age-adjusted ORs (95% CIs) were 1.33 (1.01–1.76) in men and 1.66 (1.36–2.02) in women. The significant association remained even after adjustment for socioeconomic status, health-related behaviors and cardiovascular risk factors in women, whereas the significance disappeared in men. sion RH is associated with low-grade inflammation in both sexes. In women, but not in men, the association is independent of potential confounders. These findings provide an insight into the biological background of SRH in a general population.