Aims: Prior studies have consistently shown that Hispanics are more likely to self-report poorer overall health status compared to whites. However, it is unclear whether these studies have adequately controlled for important covariates when explaining these variations. This study proposes to (1) determine if using a more complete set of socioeconomic and health covariates can help explain the observed differentials in Hispanic self-reported overall health (SROH) and whether this difference varies according to gender; and (2) determine whether SROH has the same predictive value for (a) physician visits and (b) hospitalization for Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites, after adjusting for other covariates. Methods: The 1992 wave of the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative study of 51-61 year old adults, sponsored by the National Institute of Aging, will be used to analyze data on 7169 white, 895 Hispanic, and 1652 black respondents. Multivariate regression analysis (OLS regression, logistic regression, and ordered logistic regression) will be used to investigate the above aims. The main dependent variables will be (1) SROH, any physician visit in past 12 months, number of physician visits, and any hospitalization in the past 12 months. Significance: This research is of practical use for health care providers, payors, and policy makers, as SROH is often used to determine the health needs of both populations and individual patients. This proposed study would add to our knowledge regarding the health status and health care needs of our fastest growing ethnic population. Lastly, we are convinced that this project is an essential first step toward a larger project designed to explore and describe variations in health care values, beliefs, and use among several Hispanic subgroups, and to validate alternative measures of health status based on more objective measures of health status for these groups.