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Social inequality in the later life: cross-national comparison of quality of life.

ABSTRACT: This paper analyses quality of life and inequality in old age in an international comparative and a life course perspective. Quality of life is seen as an outcome of unequal chances in life. We distinguish between overall and domain specific expressions of quality of life which allows us to analyse the determinants of overall quality of life and their development over the life course. The data presented come from the research project "OASIS - Old Age and Autonomy: The Role of Service Systems and Intergenerational Family Solidarity". This data set is based on an age stratified random sample of the urban population (25-102 years) in Norway, England, Germany, Spain, and Israel (n=6,106). With advancing age, there are decreasing mean levels and increasing variation of quality of life. With age, the impact of physical health on overall quality of life increases, while the predictive power of other domains decreases. The results support the hypothesis of differentiation as well as the age-dependency hypothesis. For both these both aspects, international comparisons show similar results in different societies. These uniform age tendencies in modern European societies point to a limited importance of societal embeddedness and support the interpretation of age group differences as being life course effects.

SUBMITTER: Motel-Klingebiel A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5502678 | biostudies-other | 2004 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:BACKGROUND:The aim of this study was to measure differences in quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE) by income in Korea at the national and district levels. METHODS:Mortality rates and EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) scores were obtained from the National Health Information Database of the National Health Insurance Service and the Korea Community Health Survey, respectively. QALE and differences in QALE among income quintiles were calculated using combined 2008-2014 data for 245 districts in Korea. Correlation analyses were conducted to investigate the associations of neighborhood characteristics with QALE and income gaps therein. RESULTS:QALE showed a graded pattern of inequality according to income, and increased over time for all levels of income and in both sexes, except for low-income quintiles among women, resulting in a widened inequality in QALE among women. In all 245 districts, pro-rich inequalities in QALE were found in both men and women. Districts with higher QALE and smaller income gaps in QALE were concentrated in metropolitan areas, while districts with lower QALE and larger income gaps in QALE were found in rural areas. QALE and differences in QALE by income showed relatively close correlations with socioeconomic characteristics, but relatively weak correlations with health behaviors, except for smoking and indicators related to medical resources. CONCLUSIONS:This study provides evidence of income-based inequalities in health measured by QALE in all subnational areas in Korea. Furthermore, QALE and differences in QALE by income were closely associated with neighborhood-level socioeconomic characteristics.

| S-EPMC7045490 | biostudies-literature

Social Isolation and Memory Decline in Later-life.

Project description:OBJECTIVES:To investigate associations between level and changes in social isolation and in memory in older men and women. METHODS:The sample included 6,123 women and 5,110 men aged 50+ from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA). Extended latent change score models from six measurement occasions every 2 years from 2002 were used to investigate associations between social isolation and memory. Models were adjusted for age, socioeconomic position, and health. RESULTS:Social isolation increased and memory decreased over time. Among men an initially high level of social isolation was associated with a somewhat greater decrease in memory. Among women a greater increase in social isolation predicted a greater decrease in memory and a larger change in social isolation was associated with further larger changes in isolation, although when social isolation reached a higher level it subsequently decreased. CONCLUSIONS:Results suggest that the association between social isolation and memory decline arises because social isolation is associated with increased memory decline rather than poor memory leading to increases in social isolation. Men with high levels of social isolation and women with accumulated social isolation over time are especially affected as these patterns of isolation were associated with more profound memory decline.

| S-EPMC6963696 | biostudies-literature

Mothering alone: cross-national comparisons of later-life disability and health among women who were single mothers.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Single motherhood is associated with poorer health, but whether this association varies between countries is not known. We examine associations between single motherhood and poor later-life health in the USA, England and 13 European countries. METHODS:Data came from 25?125 women aged 50+ who participated in the US Health and Retirement Study, the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. We tested whether single motherhood at ages 16-49 was associated with increased risk of limitations with activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental ADL and fair/poor self-rated health in later life. RESULTS:33% of American mothers had experienced single motherhood before age 50, versus 22% in England, 38% in Scandinavia, 22% in Western Europe and 10% in Southern Europe. Single mothers had higher risk of poorer health and disability in later life than married mothers, but associations varied between countries. For example, risk ratios for ADL limitations were 1.51 (95% CI 1.29 to 1.98) in England, 1.50 (1.10 to 2.05) in Scandinavia and 1.27 (1.17 to 1.40) in the USA, versus 1.09 (0.80 to 1.47) in Western Europe, 1.13 (0.80 to 1.60) in Southern Europe and 0.93 (0.66 to 1.31) in Eastern Europe. Women who were single mothers before age 20, for 8+ years, or resulting from divorce or non-marital childbearing, were at particular risk. CONCLUSIONS:Single motherhood during early-adulthood or mid-adulthood is associated with poorer health in later life. Risks were greatest in England, the USA and Scandinavia. Selection and causation mechanisms might both explain between-country variation.

| S-EPMC4759498 | biostudies-literature

Religious Heterogamy and Partnership Quality in Later Life.

Project description:OBJECTIVES:Prior research points to the importance of couple-level religious similarity for multiple dimensions of partnership quality and stability but few studies have investigated whether this association holds for older couples. METHOD:The current article uses dyadic data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), a representative sample of 953 individuals age 62-91 plus their marital or cohabiting partners. We use modified actor-partner interdependence models. RESULTS:Religious service heterogamy predicted lower relationship happiness and satisfaction. Both associations were partially explained by the fact that religiously dissimilar partners report relatively little free time in joint activity. Further, religiously heterogamous couples had less frequent sex and engaged in less nonsexual touch than their more similar counterparts. CONCLUSIONS:Taken together, results attest to the ongoing importance of religious similarity-service attendance, in particular-for partnership quality in late life. Future research is needed to more fully examine which mechanisms account for these patterns.

| S-EPMC7357957 | biostudies-literature

Social cohesion and quality of life in Bandung: A cross sectional study.

Project description:In Bandung, Indonesia, urban expansion, rapid economic growth, and population increase present enormous challenges to the maintenance of a high quality of life (QOL) for its citizens. Moreover, income distribution in the city has become more unequal, thereby threatening social cohesion. Such situations led us to investigate the states and correlation of social cohesion and QOL in Bandung. In 2018, we conducted a questionnaire survey of social cohesion and QOL using 13 and 18 question items, respectively. We employed the Rasch model analysis to analyze the logit measures of 752 responses. The results revealed that the population of Bandung has high social cohesion and decent QOL. Our findings suggest that in Bandung QOL is significantly correlated with social cohesion, therefore strategies that seek to enhance social cohesion may be beneficial to improve the QOL.

| S-EPMC8513873 | biostudies-literature

Life course biopsychosocial effects of retrospective childhood social support and later-life cognition.

Project description:Social support during childhood lays the foundation for social relationships throughout the life course and has been shown to predict a wide range of mental and physical health outcomes. Social support measured in late life is prospectively associated with better cognitive aging, but few studies have evaluated social support received earlier in the life course. We quantified the effects of childhood social support, reported retrospectively, on later-life cognitive trajectories and investigated biopsychosocial mechanisms underlying these associations. Latent growth curve models estimated 10-year cognitive trajectories in 8,538 participants (baseline ages 45-93; Mage = 63) in the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) project. Independent of sociodemographics, childhood socioeconomic status, and household size, greater retrospective childhood social support was associated with better initial episodic memory, but not verbal fluency or cognitive change, in later adulthood. Associations with initial memory level were mediated by sociodemographic and psychosocial variables; specifically, those who reported greater childhood social support reported higher educational attainment and had better physical and emotional health in adulthood, which were each associated with better memory. These results provide support for broad and enduring effects of childhood social support on mental, physical, and cognitive health decades later. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

| S-EPMC6829036 | biostudies-literature

Early-life social experience affects offspring DNA methylation and later life stress phenotype.

Project description:Studies in rodents and captive primates suggest that the early-life social environment affects future phenotype, potentially through alterations to DNA methylation. Little is known of these associations in wild animals. In a wild population of spotted hyenas, we test the hypothesis that maternal care during the first year of life and social connectedness during two periods of early development leads to differences in DNA methylation and fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCMs) later in life. Here we report that although maternal care and social connectedness during the den-dependent life stage are not associated with fGCMs, greater social connectedness during the subadult den-independent life stage is associated with lower adult fGCMs. Additionally, more maternal care and social connectedness after den independence correspond with higher global (%CCGG) DNA methylation. We also note differential DNA methylation near 5 genes involved in inflammation, immune response, and aging that may link maternal care with stress phenotype.

| S-EPMC8292380 | biostudies-literature

Social support from the closest person and sleep quality in later life: Evidence from a British birth cohort study.

Project description:OBJECTIVES:Supportive social relationships have been found to be related to fewer sleep problems and better sleep quality. We examined associations between positive and negative support from the nominated close person across 15years of follow-up with sleep quality in older age. METHODS:MRC National Survey of Health and Development study members reported sleep quality at age 68 (n=2446). Cumulative exposure to and changes in positive and negative support were derived from data at age 53, 60-64 and 68years. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores were regressed on social support measures adjusted for i) gender only then additionally ii) education, marital status, number in household, limiting illness, body mass index, caregiving, iii) and affective symptoms. RESULTS:Greater exposure to positive support and lower exposure to negative support over 15years were independently associated with better sleep quality at age 68. Sleep quality was poorer for those who experienced declining positive support or increasing negative support. Those who nominated their spouse/partner as their closest person at age 53 but not at age 68 had poorer sleep quality than those who nominated their spouse on both occasions. These associations were not explained by the covariates, including affective symptoms. CONCLUSIONS:Based on repeat data on support from the closest person, this study finds a link between declining social relationship quality and poor sleep quality. Whilst acknowledging that the association may be bi-directional, the study suggests that interventions to improve older people's social relationships may have benefits for sleep.

| S-EPMC5478069 | biostudies-literature

Early-life single-episode sevoflurane exposure impairs social behavior and cognition later in life.

Project description:BackgroundSingle-episode anesthetic exposure is the most prevalent surgery-related incidence among young children in the United States. Although numerous studies have used animals to model the effects of neonatal anesthetics on behavioral changes later on in life, our understanding of the functional consequences to the developing brain in a comprehensive and clinically relevant manner is unclear.MethodsThe volatile anesthetic, sevoflurane (sevo) was administered to C57BL6 postnatal day 7 (P7) mice in a 40% oxygen and 60% nitrogen gas mixture. In order to examine the effects of sevo alone on the developing brain in a clinically relevant manner, mice were exposed to an average of 2.38 ± 0.11% sevo for 2 h. No sevo (control) mice were treated in an identical manner without sevo exposure. Mice were examined for cognition and neuropsychiatric-like behavioral changes at 1-5 months of age.ResultsUsing the active place avoidance (APA) test and the novel object recognition (NOR) test, we demonstrated that P7 sevo-treated mice showed a deficit in learning and memory both during periadolescence and adulthood. We then employed a battery of neuropsychiatric-like behavioral tests to examine social interaction, communication, and repetitive behavior. Interestingly, compared to the no-sevo-treated group, sevo-treated mice showed significant reductions in the time interacting with a novel mouse (push-crawl and following), time and interaction in a chamber with a novel mouse, and time sniffing a novel social odor.ConclusionsOur study established that single-episode, 2-h sevo treatment during early life impairs cognition later on in life. With this approach, we also observed neuropsychiatric-like behavior changes such as social interaction deficits in the sevo-treated mice. This study elucidated the effects of a clinically relevant single-episode sevo application, given during the neonatal period, on neurodevelopmental behavioral changes later on in life.

| S-EPMC5036436 | biostudies-literature

Signs of Social Class: The Experience of Economic Inequality in Everyday Life.

Project description:By some accounts, global economic inequality is at its highest point on record. The pernicious effects of this broad societal trend are striking: Rising inequality is linked to poorer health and well-being across countries, continents, and cultures. The economic and psychological forces that perpetuate inequality continue to be studied, and in this theoretical review, we examine the role of daily experiences of economic inequality-the communication of social class signals between interaction partners-in this process. We theorize that social class signals activate social comparison processes that strengthen group boundaries between the haves and have nots in society. In particular, we argue that class signals are a frequent, rapid, and accurate component of person perception, and we provide new data and analyses demonstrating the accuracy of class signaling in 60-s interactions, Facebook photographs, and isolated recordings of brief speech. We suggest that barriers to the reduction of economic inequality in society arise directly from this class signaling process through the augmentation of class boundaries and the elicitation of beliefs and behaviors that favor the economic status quo.

| S-EPMC5453398 | biostudies-literature

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