Purpose in life and 8-year mortality by gender and race/ethnicity among older adults in the US. Summary We examined associations between a sense of purpose and all-cause mortality by gender and race/ethnicity groups. Data were from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative cohort study of American adults aged 50 years and older (n = 13,159). Sense of purpose was self-reported at baseline (2006/2008), and risk of all-cause mortality was assessed over an 8-year follow-up period. We also formally tested potential effect modification by gender and race/ethnicity. We observed associations between greater purpose and lower risk of all-cause mortality across gender and race/ethnicity groups. There was modest evidence that the highest level of purpose (vs. the lowest quartile) was associated with an even lower risk of all-cause mortality among women (hazard ratio = 0.66, 95% confidence interval: 0.56, 0.77) compared with men (hazard ratio = 0.80, 95% confidence interval: 0.69, 0.93; p value for multiplicative effect modification = 0.07 ). However, we observed no evidence of effect modification by race/ethnicity. Having a greater sense of purpose appears to protect against all-cause mortality, regardless of gender and race/ethnicity. Purpose, a potentially modifiable factor, could be a health asset in diverse populations. |
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Growing research indicates that one’s purpose , that is, the extent to which someone perceives a sense of direction and goals in their life , may be related to health-protective benefits, such as better physical functioning and lower risks of cardiovascular disease or cognitive impairment.
Now, a new study led by a Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researcher found that people with higher levels of purpose may have a lower risk of death from any cause, and that this association holds true. across all races/ethnicities and genders.
Published in the journal Preventive Medicine , the study results suggested that this association is slightly stronger among women than men, but there was no significant difference by race/ethnicity.
“Having a purpose in life is known to improve many health outcomes on average,” says the study’s senior author, Dr. Koichiro Shiba, assistant professor of epidemiology at BUSPH. “In another study I led, we found that the effect of purpose on reducing all-cause mortality may differ by socioeconomic status. “In this study, we extend previous evidence and find that the beneficial effect of purpose persisted regardless of gender and race/ethnicity.”
For the study, Dr. Shiba and his colleagues at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health (Harvard Chan) used data from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative study of American adults age 50 and older. The team assessed self-reported sense of purpose among more than 13,000 people, based on the "purpose in life" Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-being , a widely used tool that measures different aspects of well-being and happiness. The researchers also examined mortality risk over an eight-year period beginning between 2006 and 2008.
The results showed that people with the highest sense of purpose indicated the lowest risk of death (15.2 percent risk of mortality), compared to people with the lowest sense of purpose (36.5 percent risk of mortality). mortality).
The team also collected data on additional factors that may influence health, such as socioeconomic status, other demographic characteristics, baseline physical health, and depression, and found that an increase in these factors was also associated with increases in a greater sense of purpose.
Dr. Shiba speculates that the stronger relationship observed between purpose and mortality in women may be attributed to the gender difference in the use of health care services, "one of the postulated pathways linking purpose and health ", says. “Evidence suggests that men tend to underutilize necessary health services, due to the social norm. "However, future study investigating the mechanisms underlying the gender difference is warranted."
These findings can help inform future policies and other efforts to improve health and well-being.
“This evidence on effect heterogeneity tells us whether targeted interventions at the population level can promote people’s health not only on average, but also equitably,” says Dr. Shiba. “Although evidence suggests that targeted interventions would not lead to greater racial disparities in mortality, policymakers should also be aware of other sources of heterogeneity, such as SES and gender. Although people may view purpose as a “psychological” factor, its impacts on health cannot be explained solely by the processes operating in our minds and biology. “We need to consider how the psychological factor interacts with our social world and ultimately affects our health.”
The lead author of the study was Dr. Eric Kim, a research scientist at Harvard Chan at the time of the study. The study was also co-authored by Dr. Laura Kubzansky, a Harvard Chan professor of social and behavioral sciences; David Williams, Florence Sprague Norman and Laura Smart Norman Professor of Public Health and chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard Chan; and Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology at Harvard Chan.
