tsf@THEORY.CS.CMU.EDU (Timothy Freeman) (04/07/88)
In volume 4 number 4 of "Advances: the Journal of the Institute for the Advancement of Health" there is an interesting article (survey paper, really) titled "The Social Networks of Health" by Leonard A. Sagan claiming that there are strong correlations between having a strong social network and being healthy. Here's what he says about the most persuasive of the studies he cites: ***Begin Quote*** A few studies have estimated the impact of the social network as a whole, including the effect of friendship, church attendance, and so forth. One such study was carried out among residents of Almeda County, California, located on San Francisco Bay. [At this point the article cites the reference "Berkman, L., and Syme, S. 'Social Networks, Host Resistance, and Mortality: A Nine-Year Follow-up Study of Almeda County Residents.' American Journal of Eyidemiology 109 (1979):186-204."] About seven thousand people were interviewed regarding contacts with friends and relatives, church membership, and marital status, among others. Nine years later, mortality that had occurred in the interval was ascertained. The authors then constructed a Social Network Index for each person studied. This index was adjusted for all of the person's social contacts, including friends as well as formal groups. The index was constructed to reflect not only the number of relationships but their intensity as well. Among all age and sex groups mortality was greatest for those with the fewest such memberships (or networks), highest among those with the fewest relationships -- the loners. (See Figure 1 [which indicates that the difference in mortality rate between those with the least connections and those with the most connections is about a factor of 2 for all age groups]). This index was correlated with socioeconomic status, cigarette smoking, and other health practices, but remained significant even when the effects of these other variables were removed. Social isolation, as measured by a low index, was associated with increased mortality from ischemic heart disease, cancer, cardio-vascular diseases, and all other diagnoses, including suicide and accidental death. Since there existed the possibility that people were lonely and without social networks because they were sick, the authors examined separately the influence of social networks on mortality among people with the same degree of disability at the time of interview. The beneficial effects of social networks persisited even when disability was accounted for. ***End Quote*** -- Tim Freeman Arpanet: tsf@theory.cs.cmu.edu Uucp: ...!seismo!theory.cs.cmu.edu!tsf