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Social networks and longevity. A 14 year follow-up study among elderly in Denmark

Author

Listed:
  • Olsen, Rolf Bang
  • Olsen, Jørn
  • Gunner-Svensson, Finn
  • Waldstrøm, Bodil

Abstract

The hypothesis of the study was that social contacts to close friends and relatives and perceived social integration was able to delay mortality in general and cardiovascular mortality in particular. Altogether 1752 males and females, aged 70-100 years were interviewed by trained nurses in 1972 to 1974. The study group was based upon a random sample of all elderly in the town of Odense, Denmark. More than 80% participated in the survey which included data collection on social networks and health at the time of interviewing. By means of linking the study group to national registries on mortality and causes of mortality practically all in the cohort were traced until 1987. During follow-up 1501 persons died. Most of the association between social networks and mortality were weak and statistically insignificant but had the expected sign. After adjusting for initial health status only the interviewer's assessment of the quality of the network was statistically significant associated with longevity. A feeling of loneliness was found to be associated with cardiovascular mortality, especially for males.

Suggested Citation

  • Olsen, Rolf Bang & Olsen, Jørn & Gunner-Svensson, Finn & Waldstrøm, Bodil, 1991. "Social networks and longevity. A 14 year follow-up study among elderly in Denmark," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1189-1195, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:33:y:1991:i:10:p:1189-1195
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    Cited by:

    1. Thoresen, Siri & Aakvaag, Helene Flood & Strøm, Ida Frugård & Wentzel-Larsen, Tore & Birkeland, Marianne Skogbrott, 2018. "Loneliness as a mediator of the relationship between shame and health problems in young people exposed to childhood violence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 183-189.
    2. Shor, Eran & Roelfs, David J., 2015. "Social contact frequency and all-cause mortality: A meta-analysis and meta-regression," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 76-86.
    3. Tobias C. Vogt & Fanny A. Kluge, 2013. "Care for money? Mortality improvements, increasing intergenerational transfers, and time devoted to the elderly," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2013-014, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    4. Natasja Schutter & Tjalling J. Holwerda & Hannie C. Comijs & Max L. Stek & Jaap Peen & Jack J. M. Dekker, 2022. "Loneliness, social network size and mortality in older adults: a meta-analysis," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1057-1076, December.
    5. Angelique Chan & Prassanna Raman & Stefan Ma & Rahul Malhotra, 2015. "Loneliness and all-cause mortality in community-dwelling elderly Singaporeans," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 32(49), pages 1361-1382.
    6. Andrew Stickley & Ai Koyanagi, 2018. "Physical multimorbidity and loneliness: A population-based study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, January.
    7. Laura Alejandra Rico-Uribe & Francisco Félix Caballero & Natalia Martín-María & María Cabello & José Luis Ayuso-Mateos & Marta Miret, 2018. "Association of loneliness with all-cause mortality: A meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(1), pages 1-21, January.
    8. Bavishi, Avni & Slade, Martin D. & Levy, Becca R., 2016. "A chapter a day: Association of book reading with longevity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 44-48.
    9. Mads Meier Jæger & Anders Holm, "undated". "How Stressful is Retirement? New Evidence from a Longitudinal, Fixed-effects Analysis," CAM Working Papers 2004-19, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. Centre for Applied Microeconometrics, revised Sep 2004.
    10. Tobias C. Vogt & Fanny A. Kluge, 2014. "Care for Money?: Mortality Improvements, Increasing Intergenerational Transfers, and Time Devoted to the Elderly," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 721, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

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