Marital Transitions and Frailty Among Middle-aged and Older Adults in China: The Roles of Social Support

Overview

Journal SSM Popul Health

Date 2023 Sep 7

PMID 37674978

Authors

Shi An

Wenwei Ouyang

Shuangshuang Wang

Juan Yuan

Xuemei Zhen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: This study explored the association of marital transitions and frailty among Chinese middle-aged and older people and whether this association differs by social support.

Methods: We used a sample of 12,388 adults aged ≥45 years who participated in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) between 2015 and 2018. Between-wave changes in marital status ("married at both times", "unmarried to married", "married to unmarried", "unmarried at both times") were used to explore the changes in frailty measured by the frailty index (FI), which was constructed from 55 health variables. Social support was evaluated based on social engagement and intergenerational support. The associations among marital transitions, social support and frailty were analyzed using generalized estimating equations (GEEs).

Results: The mean FI of 12,388 participants was 0.23 (SD = 0.13). Participants who were married to unmarried (β = 0.014, B = 0.005, P = 0.012) and unmarried at both times (β = 0.022, B = 0.003, P < 0.001) had significant a positive impact on FI compared with participants who were married at both times. Social engagement, financial support by children and providing care to grandchildren had an interactive effect with marital transitions in influencing FI.

Conclusions: Being unmarried may increase frailty among Chinese middle-aged and older adults. Financial support by children may mitigate the adverse effects of being unmarried on frailty.

Citing Articles

Unraveling the mediation role of frailty and depression in the relationship between social support and self-management among Chinese elderly COPD patients: a cross-sectional study.

Zhao J, Zhang X, Li X, Zhang R, Chang Y, Li Y BMC Pulm Med. 2024; 24(1):66.

PMID: 38302898 PMC: 10835951. DOI: 10.1186/s12890-024-02889-y.

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