Individuals who are married tend to have lower mortality, morbidity, and better mental health. The potential protective effect of marriage on both physical and mental health is of particular importance to older couples as the number of older married adults rises and mortality rates continue to decrease. However, there is very little information on the connection between the health statuses of older married couples. The similarity between health of spouses, or """"""""concordance"""""""" can be of particular importance if the deterioration in the health of one spouse is associated with the deterioration in the health of the other spouse. One way to address concordance is to examine the connection between one spouse's health events and the other spouse's health outcomes. To address the association between spouses' health more extensively, we intend to examine the potential influence of physical functioning and health events in one spouse on the health of the other spouse over a 2-5 year time period in older Mexican American adults.
The specific aims of the study are: (1) to examine the relationship between the presence of major health events (myocardial infarction, stroke, cancer, and hip fracture) in one spouse and depressive symptoms and lower body mobility of the other spouse; (2) to assess the connection between physical functioning (e.g., I/ADL disability) in one spouse and depressive symptoms and lower body mobility of the other spouse; and (3) to investigate the association of mortality of one spouse with depressive symptoms and lower body mobility of the other spouse. As a secondary aim, we will explore the possibility that social support and acculturation modify the relationship between spouses' health statuses in older Mexican Americans. We will be examining these specific aims in 553 married couples from the ongoing Hispanic Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (H-EPESE). One of the benefits of examining concordance in spouses' health in older Mexican Americans lies in their health profiles (mortality rates similar to older White adults but higher rates of certain diseases and disability). Structural equation modeling will be used for model estimation on three waves of data (1993-94 -1998/9.) ? ?
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| Stimpson, Jim P; Kuo, Yong-Fang; Ray, Laura A et al. (2007) Risk of mortality related to widowhood in older Mexican Americans. Ann Epidemiol 17:313-9 |
| Meyler, Deanna; Stimpson, Jim P; Peek, M Kristen (2007) Health concordance within couples: a systematic review. Soc Sci Med 64:2297-310 |
| Stimpson, Jim P; Masel, Meredith C; Rudkin, Laura et al. (2006) Shared health behaviors among older Mexican American spouses. Am J Health Behav 30:495-502 |
| Meyler, D; Stimpson, J P; Peek, M K (2006) Acculturation and self-esteem among older Mexican Americans. Aging Ment Health 10:182-6 |
