Individual social capital and survival: a population study with 5-year follow-up

Linda Ejlskov; Rikke N Mortensen; Charlotte Overgaard; Line R B U Christensen; Henrik Vardinghus-Nielsen; Stella R J Kræmer; Mads Wissenberg; Steen M Hansen; Christian Torp-Pedersen; Claus D Hansen

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-1025

Individual social capital and survival: a population study with 5-year follow-up

Linda Ejlskov, Rikke N Mortensen, Charlotte Overgaard, Line R B U Christensen, Henrik Vardinghus-Nielsen, Stella R J Kræmer, Mads Wissenberg, Steen M Hansen, Christian Torp-Pedersen, Claus D Hansen

Department of Clinical Medicine

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The concept of social capital has received increasing attention as a determinant of population survival, but its significance is uncertain. We examined the importance of social capital on survival in a population study while focusing on gender differences.

METHODS: We used data from a Danish regional health survey with a five-year follow-up period, 2007-2012 (n = 9288, 53.5% men, 46.5% women). We investigated the association between social capital and all-cause mortality, performing separate analyses on a composite measure as well as four specific dimensions of social capital while controlling for covariates. Analyses were performed with Cox proportional hazard models by which hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated.

RESULTS: For women, higher levels of social capital were associated with lower all-cause mortality regardless of age, socioeconomic status, health, and health behaviour (HR = 0.586, 95% CI = 0.421-0.816) while no such association was found for men (HR = 0.949, 95% CI = 0.816-1.104). Analysing the specific dimensions of social capital, higher levels of trust and social network were significantly associated with lower all-cause mortality in women (HR = 0.827, 95% CI = 0.750-0.913 and HR = 0.832, 95% CI = 0.729-0.949, respectively). For men, strong social networks were associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 1.132, 95% CI = 1.017-1.260). Civic engagement had a similar effect for both men (HR = 0.848, 95% CI = 0.722-0.997) and women (HR = 0.848, 95% CI = 0.630-1.140).

CONCLUSIONS: We found differential effects of social capital in men compared to women. The predictive effects on all-cause mortality of four specific dimensions of social capital varied. Gender stratified analysis and the use of multiple indicators to measure social capital are thus warranted in future research.

Original language	English
Article number	1025
Journal	BMC Public Health
Volume	14
Pages (from-to)	1-9
Number of pages	9
ISSN	1471-2458
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-1025
Publication status	Published - 2 Oct 2014

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10.1186/1471-2458-14-1025

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@article{c0f8485f9880486da1b25c522faa10f7,

title = "Individual social capital and survival: a population study with 5-year follow-up",

abstract = "BACKGROUND: The concept of social capital has received increasing attention as a determinant of population survival, but its significance is uncertain. We examined the importance of social capital on survival in a population study while focusing on gender differences.METHODS: We used data from a Danish regional health survey with a five-year follow-up period, 2007-2012 (n = 9288, 53.5% men, 46.5% women). We investigated the association between social capital and all-cause mortality, performing separate analyses on a composite measure as well as four specific dimensions of social capital while controlling for covariates. Analyses were performed with Cox proportional hazard models by which hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated.RESULTS: For women, higher levels of social capital were associated with lower all-cause mortality regardless of age, socioeconomic status, health, and health behaviour (HR = 0.586, 95% CI = 0.421-0.816) while no such association was found for men (HR = 0.949, 95% CI = 0.816-1.104). Analysing the specific dimensions of social capital, higher levels of trust and social network were significantly associated with lower all-cause mortality in women (HR = 0.827, 95% CI = 0.750-0.913 and HR = 0.832, 95% CI = 0.729-0.949, respectively). For men, strong social networks were associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 1.132, 95% CI = 1.017-1.260). Civic engagement had a similar effect for both men (HR = 0.848, 95% CI = 0.722-0.997) and women (HR = 0.848, 95% CI = 0.630-1.140).CONCLUSIONS: We found differential effects of social capital in men compared to women. The predictive effects on all-cause mortality of four specific dimensions of social capital varied. Gender stratified analysis and the use of multiple indicators to measure social capital are thus warranted in future research.",

author = "Linda Ejlskov and Mortensen, {Rikke N} and Charlotte Overgaard and Christensen, {Line R B U} and Henrik Vardinghus-Nielsen and Kr{\ae}mer, {Stella R J} and Mads Wissenberg and Hansen, {Steen M} and Christian Torp-Pedersen and Hansen, {Claus D}",

year = "2014",

month = oct,

day = "2",

doi = "10.1186/1471-2458-14-1025",

language = "English",

volume = "14",

pages = "1--9",

journal = "BMC Public Health",

issn = "1471-2458",

publisher = "BioMed Central Ltd.",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Individual social capital and survival

T2 - a population study with 5-year follow-up

AU - Ejlskov, Linda

AU - Mortensen, Rikke N

AU - Overgaard, Charlotte

AU - Christensen, Line R B U

AU - Vardinghus-Nielsen, Henrik

AU - Kræmer, Stella R J

AU - Wissenberg, Mads

AU - Hansen, Steen M

AU - Torp-Pedersen, Christian

AU - Hansen, Claus D

PY - 2014/10/2

Y1 - 2014/10/2

N2 - BACKGROUND: The concept of social capital has received increasing attention as a determinant of population survival, but its significance is uncertain. We examined the importance of social capital on survival in a population study while focusing on gender differences.METHODS: We used data from a Danish regional health survey with a five-year follow-up period, 2007-2012 (n = 9288, 53.5% men, 46.5% women). We investigated the association between social capital and all-cause mortality, performing separate analyses on a composite measure as well as four specific dimensions of social capital while controlling for covariates. Analyses were performed with Cox proportional hazard models by which hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated.RESULTS: For women, higher levels of social capital were associated with lower all-cause mortality regardless of age, socioeconomic status, health, and health behaviour (HR = 0.586, 95% CI = 0.421-0.816) while no such association was found for men (HR = 0.949, 95% CI = 0.816-1.104). Analysing the specific dimensions of social capital, higher levels of trust and social network were significantly associated with lower all-cause mortality in women (HR = 0.827, 95% CI = 0.750-0.913 and HR = 0.832, 95% CI = 0.729-0.949, respectively). For men, strong social networks were associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 1.132, 95% CI = 1.017-1.260). Civic engagement had a similar effect for both men (HR = 0.848, 95% CI = 0.722-0.997) and women (HR = 0.848, 95% CI = 0.630-1.140).CONCLUSIONS: We found differential effects of social capital in men compared to women. The predictive effects on all-cause mortality of four specific dimensions of social capital varied. Gender stratified analysis and the use of multiple indicators to measure social capital are thus warranted in future research.

AB - BACKGROUND: The concept of social capital has received increasing attention as a determinant of population survival, but its significance is uncertain. We examined the importance of social capital on survival in a population study while focusing on gender differences.METHODS: We used data from a Danish regional health survey with a five-year follow-up period, 2007-2012 (n = 9288, 53.5% men, 46.5% women). We investigated the association between social capital and all-cause mortality, performing separate analyses on a composite measure as well as four specific dimensions of social capital while controlling for covariates. Analyses were performed with Cox proportional hazard models by which hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated.RESULTS: For women, higher levels of social capital were associated with lower all-cause mortality regardless of age, socioeconomic status, health, and health behaviour (HR = 0.586, 95% CI = 0.421-0.816) while no such association was found for men (HR = 0.949, 95% CI = 0.816-1.104). Analysing the specific dimensions of social capital, higher levels of trust and social network were significantly associated with lower all-cause mortality in women (HR = 0.827, 95% CI = 0.750-0.913 and HR = 0.832, 95% CI = 0.729-0.949, respectively). For men, strong social networks were associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 1.132, 95% CI = 1.017-1.260). Civic engagement had a similar effect for both men (HR = 0.848, 95% CI = 0.722-0.997) and women (HR = 0.848, 95% CI = 0.630-1.140).CONCLUSIONS: We found differential effects of social capital in men compared to women. The predictive effects on all-cause mortality of four specific dimensions of social capital varied. Gender stratified analysis and the use of multiple indicators to measure social capital are thus warranted in future research.

U2 - 10.1186/1471-2458-14-1025

DO - 10.1186/1471-2458-14-1025

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 25273850

SN - 1471-2458

VL - 14

SP - 1

EP - 9

JO - BMC Public Health

JF - BMC Public Health

M1 - 1025

ER -

Individual social capital and survival: a population study with 5-year follow-up

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