Importance of Health and Relative Importance of Satisfaction with One’s Own Health: A Case of Frail Immigrant Older Adults

The purpose of the current study is to investigate (1) the relative or perceived importance of health, and (2) the relative importance of health-related quality of life (HRQOL, in relation to satisfactions with other non-health-related life domains) in a longitudinal context. Based on longitudinal survey data of a group of frail immigrant older adults, this study found that (1) the perception of health being most important among major life domains did not vary with time, and (2) the fact that in comparison with satisfactions with other major life domains, satisfaction with one’s own health was not the strongest predictor of overall life satisfaction, did not vary with time either. These findings continue to support the main points suggested by Hsieh (Soc Indic Res 87:127–137, 2008): the importance of health as a major domain of life must not be overlooked; but the association between HRQOL and quality of life must not be overestimated.