Effects of Individual, Spousal, and Offspring Socioeconomic Status on Mortality Among Elderly People in China.

Lei Yang,Pekka Martikainen,Karri Silventoinen

doi:10.2188/jea.je20150252

Abstract

BackgroundThe relationship between socio-economic status and health among elderly people has been well studied, but less is known about how spousal or offspring’s education affects mortality, especially in non-Western countries. We investigated these associations using a large sample of Chinese elderly.MethodsThe data came from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) from the years 2005 to 2011 (n = 15 355, aged 65–105 years at baseline; 5046 died in 2008, and 2224 died in 2011). Educational attainment, occupational status, and household income per capita were used as indicators of socio-economic status. Spousal and offspring’s education were added into the final models. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to study mortality risk by gender.ResultsAdjusted for age, highly educated males and females had, on average, 29% and 37% lower mortality risk, respectively, than those with a lower education. Particularly among men, this effect was observed among those whose children had intermediate education only. A higher household income was also associated with lower mortality risk among the elderly. Male elderly living with a well-educated spouse (HR 0.79; 95% CI, 0.64–0.99) had a lower mortality risk than those living with a low-educated spouse.ConclusionsBoth the socio-economic status of the individual and the educational level of a co-resident spouse or child are associated with mortality risk in elderly people. The socio-economic position of family members plays an important role in producing health inequality among elderly people.

Highlights

The inverse association between socioeconomic status and health has been well established.[1,2,3,4,5] For all intents and purposes, people with a higher socioeconomic status have universally been found to have better health as measured on various indicators, such as self-rated health and mortality
Little is known about how the socio-economic status of other family members affects health in non-Western countries, notwithstanding that the role of family ties and obligations may be more important to the health of elderly in this cultural context
This study investigated whether and to what extent spousal and offspring’s education influences mortality among elderly males and females, net of the individual’s own socioeconomic status

Summary

Introduction

The inverse association between socioeconomic status and health has been well established.[1,2,3,4,5] For all intents and purposes, people with a higher socioeconomic status have universally been found to have better health as measured on various indicators, such as self-rated health and mortality. Some studies indicate that spousal and offspring’s education have significant effects on an individual’s mortality, but these were all conducted in high-income countries.[6,7,8,9,10,11,12] Little is known about how the socio-economic status of other family members affects health in non-Western countries, notwithstanding that the role of family ties and obligations may be more important to the health of elderly in this cultural context. The relationship between socio-economic status and health among elderly people has been well studied, but less is known about how spousal or offspring’s education affects mortality, especially in non-Western countries. We investigated these associations using a large sample of Chinese elderly. The socio-economic position of family members plays an important role in producing health inequality among elderly people

Methods

Results

Conclusion