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Marital Status and Dementia: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

Author

Listed:
  • Hui Liu
  • Zhenmei Zhang
  • Seung-won Choi
  • Kenneth M Langa
  • Deborah Carr

Abstract

ObjectivesWe provide one of the first population-based studies of variation in dementia by marital status in the United States.MethodWe analyzed data from the Health and Retirement Study (2000–2014). The sample included 15,379 respondents (6,650 men and 8,729 women) aged 52 years and older in 2000 who showed no evidence of dementia at the baseline survey. Dementia was assessed using either the modified version of the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) or the proxy’s assessment. Discrete-time hazard regression models were estimated to predict odds of dementia.ResultsAll unmarried groups, including the cohabiting, divorced/separated, widowed, and never married, had significantly higher odds of developing dementia over the study period than their married counterparts; economic resources and, to a lesser degree, health-related factors accounted for only part of the marital status variation in dementia. For divorced/separated and widowed respondents, the differences in the odds of dementia relative to married respondents were greater among men than among women.DiscussionThese findings will be helpful for health policy makers and practitioners who seek to better identify vulnerable subpopulations and to design effective intervention strategies to reduce dementia risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Hui Liu & Zhenmei Zhang & Seung-won Choi & Kenneth M Langa & Deborah Carr, 2020. "Marital Status and Dementia: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 75(8), pages 1783-1795.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:geronb:v:75:y:2020:i:8:p:1783-1795.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/geronb/gbz087
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Estela Calatayud & Carlos Salavera & Isabel Gómez-Soria, 2021. "Cognitive Differences in the Older Adults Living in the General Community: Gender and Mental Occupational State Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-12, March.
    2. Giorgia Adani & Tommaso Filippini & Caterina Garuti & Marcella Malavolti & Giulia Vinceti & Giovanna Zamboni & Manuela Tondelli & Chiara Galli & Manuela Costa & Marco Vinceti & Annalisa Chiari, 2020. "Environmental Risk Factors for Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Dementia and Frontotemporal Dementia: A Case-Control Study in Northern Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-18, October.
    3. Liu, Hui & Zhang, Zhenmei & Zhang, Yan, 2021. "A national longitudinal study of marital quality and cognitive decline among older men and women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    4. Jing Li & Xu Hui & Zhenxing Lu & Xiaocao Ren & Wenlong Yan & Peijing Yan & Liang Yao & Kehu Yang, 2022. "PROTOCOL: The association between marital transitions and physical and mental health in late life: A systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(2), June.
    5. Liu, Hui & Chopik, William J. & Shrout, M. Rosie & Wang, Juwen, 2024. "A national longitudinal dyadic analysis of spousal education and cognitive decline in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 343(C).
    6. West, Jessica S. & Smith, Sherri L. & Dupre, Matthew E., 2023. "The impact of hearing loss on trajectories of depressive symptoms in married couples," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    7. Zhang, Zhenmei & Liu, Hui & Choi, Seung-won Emily, 2021. "Marital loss and risk of dementia: Do race and gender matter?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).

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