Physical health burdens and emotional distress in later life: the mediating effects of self-rated health.

Physical health burdens have been shown to predict geriatric depression and anxiety, but there is scarce knowledge about the mechanism by which these occur. This study examined the extent to which self-rated health (SRH) mediated the associations between physical health burdens and anxiety/depression in a sample of 465 older adults between ages 60-93 residing in Ekiti State Senatorial Districts, Nigeria. The number of medical diagnoses and physical impairments significantly predicted both anxiety and depression. SRH was significantly and negatively associated with medical diagnoses, physical impairments, anxiety and depression. Furthermore, SRH was found to fully mediate the relationship between medical diagnoses and anxiety/depression. While a full mediation was found for SRH in the relationship between physical impairments and anxiety, a partial mediation was found between impairments and depression. Collectively, these results suggest that SRH may be a necessary link between physical health burdens and emotional distress at old age.