Abstract
Health status, functional status, and social influences were analyzed as risk factors associated with mortality in 1201 elderly subjects (70–75 years old), living in the center of Brescia, Northern Italy, followed up for three years.
Mortality was positively associated with degree of impairment in health status, functional status, and mental status as measured by cognitive function and mood depression. Among social conditions no relation was found between mortality and living alone, education, or income, while a significant inverse relationship has been found between mortality and activities. In defining risk factors of mortality in aged people not only health status and cognitive function have to be taken into account but also social activities; these latter may act as protective factors buffering the organism from the effects of noxious stimuli.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berckman, L.F. and S.L. Syme 1979 Social Networks, Host Resistance and Mortality: A Nine Year Follow-Up Study of Alameda County Residents. American Journal of Epidemiology 109:186–204.
Berckman, L.F. 1986 Social Networks, Support and Health: Taking the Next Step Forward. American Journal of Epidemiology 123:559–562.
Bianchetti, A., R. Rozzini, M.R. Inzoli, and M. Trabucchi 1986 Recommended Dietary Allowances in the Elderly. New England Journal of Medicine 314:1706.
Blazer, D.G. 1982 Social Support and Mortality in an Elderly Community Population. American Journal of Epidemiology 115:686–694.
Cassel, J. 1976 The Contribution of the Social Environment to Host Resistance. American Journal of Epidemiology 104:107–123.
Cobb, S. 1976 Social Support as Moderator of Life Stress. Psychosomatic Medicine 38:300–314.
Cohen, C., J. Teresi, and D. Holes 1985 Social Networks, Stress, and Physical Health: A Longitudinal Study of an Inner City Elderly Population. Journal of Gerontology 40:478–486.
Galanter, M. 1988 Research on Social Supports and Mental Illness. American Journal of Psychiatry 145:1270–1272.
Grant, I., T.L. Petterson, and J. Yager 1988 Social Supports in Relation to Physical Health and Symptoms of Depression in the Elderly. American Journal of Psychiatry 145:1254–1258.
Haan, M., G. Kaplan, and T. Camacho 1987 Poverty and Health, American Journal of Epidemiology 125:989–998.
Harris, L. 1974 The Myth and Reality of Aging in America. Washington, D.C.: National Council on the Aging.
House, J.S., C. Robbins, and H.L. Meutzner 1982 The Association of Social Relationship and Activities with Mortality: Prospective Evidence from the Tecumseh Community Health Study. American Journal of Epidemiology 116:123–140.
Kahn, R.L., A.I. Goldfarb, M. Pollack, and A. Peck 1960 Brief Objective Measure for the Determination of Mental Status in the Aged. American Journal of Psychiatry 117:326–329.
Kane, R.L., R. Bell, S. Riegler, A. Wilson, and R.A. Kane. 1983 Assessing the Outcomes of Nursing-Home Patients. Journal of Gerontology 38:385–393.
Kaplan, G.A., J.T. Salonen, R.D. Cohen, R.J. Brand, S.L. Syme, and P. Puska 1988 Social Connection and Mortality from All Causes and from Cardiovascular Disease: Prospective Evidence from Eastern Finland. American Journal of Epidemiology 128:370–380.
Kivett, V.R. 1979 Discriminators on Loneliness among the Rural Elderly: Implications for Intervention. The Gerontologist 19:108–115.
Lawton, M.P. and E.M. Brody 1969 Assessment of Older People: Self-Maintaining and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living. The Gerontologist 9:179–186.
Lawton, M.P. 1982 Competence, Environmental Press, and the Adaptation of the Elderly People. In Aging and the Environment. M.P. Lawton, P.G. Windley, and T.O. Byerts, eds. Pp. 33–59 New York: Springer.
Levi, F., C. La Vecchia, and V. Cong 1988 Socioeconomic Groups and Cancer at Death in the Swiss Canton of Vaud. International Journal of Epidemiology 17:711–717.
Linn, M.W. and B.S. Linn 1984 Self-Evaluation of Life Function (Self) Scale: A Short, Comprehensive Self-Report of Health for Elderly Adults. Journal of Gerontology 39:603–612.
Marmot, M.G., and M.E. McDowall 1986 Mortality Decline and Widening Social Inequalities. The Lancet ii:274–276.
Mullins, L.C., H.L. Sheppard, and L. Andersson 1988 A Study of Loneliness among a National Sample of Swedish Elderly. Comparative Gerontology 2:36–43.
Murphy, J.M., R.R. Monson, D.C. Oliver, A.H. Sobol, and A.M. Leighton 1987 Affective Disorders and Mortality. Archives of General Psychiatry 44:473–480.
Rosengren, A., H. Waddle, and L. Wilhelmsen 1989 Marital Status and Mortality in Middle-Aged Swedish Men. American Journal of Epidemiology 129:54–64.
Rozzini, R., A. Bianchetti, S. Franzoni, and M. Trabucchi 1987a Housing Conditions and Ill Health in the Elderly. British Medical Journal 294:1694.
Rozzini, R., C. Carabellese, A. Bianchetti, S. Franzoni, M.R. Inzoli, and M. Trabucchi 1987b Le Povertà dell'anziano come fattore di rischio di malattie. Alzheimer Longevità Geriatria 1:18–24.
Rozzini, R., A. Bianchetti, C. Carabellese, M.R. Inzoli, and M. Trabucchi 1988 Depression, Somatic Symptoms, and Life Events. The Gerontologist 28:229.
Rozzini, R., A. Bianchetti, M.R. Inzoli, and M. Trabucchi, 1990 Environmental Condition and Health: Consideration of a Multi-dimensional Inquiry in a Large Elderly Population. In Activity and Nutrition. New York: Raven Press, (in press).
Seeman, T.E., G.A. Kaplan, L. Knudsen, R. Cohen, and J. Guralnik 1987 Social Network Ties and Mortality among the Elderly in the Alameda County Study. American Journal of Epidemiology 126:714–723.
Shoenbach, V.J., B.M. Kaplan, L. Freudman, and D.G. Kleinbaum 1986 Social Ties and Mortality in Evans County, Georgia. American Journal of Epidemiology 123:577–591.
Svamborg, A., S. Borg, S. Landahal, and D. Mellstrom 1985 Age Cohort Differences in Ageing and State of Health in 70–75 Years-Olds. XIII International Congress of Gerontology, New York, Pp. 12–17.
Syme, S.L. 1974 Behavioral Factors Associated with the Etiology of Physical Disease: A Social Epidemiological Approach. American Journal of Public Health 64:1043–1045.
Welin, L., K. Svardsudd, and S. Ander-Peciva 1985 Prospective Study of Social Influences on Mortality. The Lancet i:915–918.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rozzini, R., Bianchetti, A., Franzoni, S. et al. Social, functional and health status influences on mortality: Consideration of a multidimensional inquiry in a large elderly population. J Cross-Cultural Gerontol 6, 83–90 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00117112
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00117112