Background Self-rated health (SRH) holistically captures older adults' health status from the perspective of the individual.

Aims To explore the accuracy of five objective health indicators related to diseases, physical function, cognition and disability in discriminating SRH among the youngest and oldest old.

Methods We used baseline data from 2196 participants of the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K), Sweden (years 2001-2004). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC) were obtained from logistic regressions adjusted by sex, age and education.

Results Among the youngest old, having >= 4 chronic diseases showed the highest discriminatory capacity of poor versus good SRH (AUROC: 0.714). Among the oldest old, a walking speed < 1.0 m/s showed the highest discriminatory capacity of poor versus good SRH (AUROC: 0.683), followed by >= 1 limitations in IADL (AUROC: 0.664).

Conclusion What matters most for SRH in older people depends on age, with walking speed playing a major role among the oldest old.