Purpose:To examine gender differences in the relationship of self-rated health (SRH) to mortality and that in the pathway from SRH to mortality.Methods:The subjects of this study were 784 non-institutionalized men and women aged 65 years and older living in the community in Japan in 1995 and followed annually until 2001.Six well-trained district welfare commissioners were collected information by face-to-face interviews during March and June of 1995.