A prospective study of isolation and mortality in a cohort of elderly Navajo Indians

Abstract

The prospective association between social isolation and mortality in a sample of 271 elderly Navajo Indian men and women living on their reservation in northern Arizona is reported. The follow-up period averaged three years from the time of interview in 1982-3. Self-reported level of physical functioning was predictive of mortality. Of the psycho-social measures, only marital status among men was predictive of increased risk of death, with the unmarried being at higher risk than the married. These results are attributed to the fact that Navajo society is traditionally matrilineal and matrilocal, with the mother-daughter bond being especially significant and with men being relatively more peripheral than their wives to the kin group. Thus unmarried men are far more likely to be isolated from kin than unmarried women and married people of either sex.