Payback time? Influence of having children on mortality in old age
Payback time? Influence of having children on mortality in old age
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DOI：
10.1136/jech-2016-207857
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发表时间：
2017-05-01
影响因子：
6.3
通讯作者：
Ahlbom, A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Modig, K.;Talback, M.;Ahlbom, A.
背景众所周知，父母的死亡率比没有孩子的人低。成年子女对年迈的父母的支持可能对父母的健康和长寿很重要。这项研究的目的是评估生孩子与死亡风险之间的联系，并检查当健康状况开始恶化、对家庭成员的支持需求增加时，这种联系是否在年龄较大时增加。方法在这项全国性的研究中，所有男性和女性(出生于1911年至1925年之间，居住在瑞典)及其子女在人口登记中被识别出来，并随着时间的推移进行跟踪。对于至少有一个孩子的个人和没有孩子的个人，计算了每个日历年的特定年龄死亡风险。结果至少有一个孩子的男性和女性的死亡风险低于无子女的男性和女性。在60岁时，男性预期寿命相差2年，女性预期寿命相差1.5年。死亡风险的绝对差异随着父母年龄的增长而增加，男性的绝对差异略大于女性。当考虑到有伴侣的潜在混杂影响时，这种联系仍然存在。孩子的性别对父母身份和死亡率之间的关系并不重要。结论生孩子与长寿有关，特别是在老年的绝对意义上。这种关联性随着父母年龄的增长而增加，而对于未婚者来说，这种关联性更强，这可能表明社会支持是一个可能的解释。
Background It is known that parents have lower mortality than childless individuals. Support from adult children to ageing parents may be of importance for parental health and longevity. The aim of this study was to estimate the association between having a child and the risk of death, and to examine whether the association increased at older ages when health starts to deteriorate and the need of support from a family member increases.Methods In this nationwide study, all men and women (born between 1911 and 1925 and residing in Sweden), as well as their children, were identified in population registers and followed over time. Age-specific death risks were calculated for each calendar year for individuals having at least one child and for individuals without children. Adjusted risk differences and risk ratios were estimated.Results Men and women having at least one child experienced lower death risks than childless men and women. At 60 years of age, the difference in life expectancy was 2 years for men and 1.5 years for women. The absolute differences in death risks increased with parents' age and were somewhat larger for men than for women. The association persisted when the potential confounding effect of having a partner was taken into account. The gender of the child did not matter for the association between parenthood and mortality.Conclusions Having children is associated with increased longevity, particularly in an absolute sense in old age. That the association increased with parents' age and was somewhat stronger for the non-married may suggest that social support is a possible explanation.