The importance of social relationships, socioeconomic status and health practices with respect to mortality among healthy Ontario males

TitleThe importance of social relationships, socioeconomic status and health practices with respect to mortality among healthy Ontario males
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1992
AuthorsHirdes J.P, Forbes W.F
JournalJournal of Clinical Epidemiology
Volume45
Issue2
Pagination175-82
Date PublishedFeb
Accession Number1573434
Keywords*Health Behavior, *Interpersonal Relations, *Mortality, Alcohol Drinking/ae [Adverse Effects], Educational Status, Family, Human, Income, Logistic Models, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Marriage/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data], Middle Aged, Obesity/co [Complications], Ontario/ep [Epidemiology], Organizations, Questionnaires, Risk Factors, Smoking/ae [Adverse Effects], Socioeconomic Factors, Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Abstract

The associations of social relationships, socioeconomic status and health practices with 20-year mortality were examined in a cohort of 2000 Ontario males. A social relationships index comprised of marital status, number of children, family contact and participation in voluntary associations had a strong association with mortality (adjusted relative risk of 0.30, 95% CI 0.11-0.83, comparing the highest 10% with the lowest 10% scores of the index). Among indicators of socioeconomic status, only income was significantly related to mortality with an adjusted relative risk of 0.41 (95% CI 0.23-0.72) for the highest 20% compared with the lowest 20% income group. The adjusted relative risk for smokers compared with non-smokers was 2.26 (95% CI 1.51-3.37). The joint effects of a relatively high score in the social relationships index, high income and being a non-smoker is estimated to represent an approximately 18-fold reduction in the risk of mortality during the follow-up period.

Alternate JournalJ Clin Epidemiol