Table 2.

Weighted adjusted Relative Odds Ratios of 2008 and 2010 Self-Rated Health by Frequent Alcohol-, Cigarette-, and Prescription/Other Drug-Use as Coping Behavior in the 2008 HRS

Substance Used to Cope with Stress	Self-Rated Health
	Good vs. Excellent aROR (95% CI)	Poor vs. Excellent aROR (95% CI)
2008 Self-Rated Healtha
Alcohol
Infrequent	1.00 (Ref)	1.00 (Ref)
Frequent	0.75 (0.34 – 1.69)	0.41 (0.14 – 1.20)
Cigarette
Infrequent	1.00 (Ref)	1.00 (Ref)
Frequent	3.40 (1.60 – 7.23)***	2.69 (1.08 – 6.69)*
Prescription/other drug
Infrequent	1.00 (Ref)	1.00 (Ref)
Frequent	0.73 (0.32 – 1.64)	2.40 (1.12 – 5.08)*
2010 Self-rated Healthb
Alcohol
Infrequent	1.00 (Ref)	1.00 (Ref)
Frequent	0.67 (0.29 – 1.52)	0.83 (0.37 – 1.87)
Cigarette
Infrequent	1.00 (Ref)	1.00 (Ref)
Frequent	2.04 (0.95 – 4.37)	1.54 (0.61 – 3.89)
Prescription/other drug
Infrequent	1.00 (Ref)	1.00 (Ref)
Frequent	2.07 (0.91 – 4.71)	3.46 (1.67 – 7.18)***

Note: Reference group for self-rated health outcomes was “excellent/very good” self-rated health. Estimates were adjusted for gender, race, ethnicity, and the following 2008 variables: age, married status, education, job status, education, and depressive symptoms. HRS 2008 individual-level weights were implemented; analyses were run in Stata accounting for sampling design.

aROR = adjusted Relative Odds Ratios

Infrequent = Never/hardly ever/not too often; Frequent = Very often or fairly often.

SE = linearized standard error; 95% CI = 95% confidence interval

^*p<0.05;

^**p≤0.01;

^***p≤0.001

^a2008 Sample size = 1351;

^b2010 Sample size = 1201