Table 5.

Predictors of a change in general health status between wave 1 and wave 4

	Change in general health
	β	SE	P
Years of schooling (excluded, 0–11 years)
12 years	−0.164	0.101	0.105
13–15 years	−0.248	0.127	0.051
16 or more years	−0.199	0.142	0.160
Poor self-maintenance behavior	0.246	0.102	0.016
Female	−0.099	0.084	0.240
Black	0.229	0.095	0.016
Hispanic	0.357	0.131	0.006

Model also controls for general health at baseline and birth year; full model results are shown in Appendix 2. Sample is respondents with diabetes at baseline in the Health and Retirement Study and 51–61 years old in 1992 (n = 869). Treatment regimens classified as “poor” are associated with decrements in general health between waves 1 and 4. Changes are estimated by using an ordered probit (got worse, stayed the same, got better), so positive coefficient estimates indicate greater likelihood of worsening general health between waves.