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The Effects of Housework on the Health of Retired Older Adults: A Preliminary Investigation from the Tongji-Dongfeng Cohort Study, China

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  • Xiaopiao Wen
  • Yuan Liang
  • Jiang Zhu
  • Tangchun Wu

Abstract

Background: The aim of the current study was to explore the relationship between housework and health of retired older adults, and to provide new evidences and clues for the effects of housework on health. Methodology/Principal Findings: The data came from the baseline survey of the Tongji-Dongfeng Cohort Study with 25,501 participants. The independent variable was housework including child care, elder care, grocery shopping & cooking, and washing clothes & cleaning house. The dependent variable was self-reported two-week illness. Age, education, marital status, smoking and drinking were used as potential confounding variables. There are gender differences in the four types of housework, with higher prevalence among women than among men. The prevalence of two-week illness in women was higher than that in men. After adjusting for potential confounding variables, the four types of housework had almost no significant effects on two-week illness, except for washing clothes & cleaning house with a negative effect for women (OR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.06–1.29). Conclusions/Significance: The association of housework with health, especially of child care, elder care, and grocery shopping & cooking without significance and of washing clothes & cleaning house with significance for women, would provide a valuable clue for in-depth study of housework, namely the effects of housework on health would be subdivided into the dimensions of psychological and social activity besides physical activity, and it may not be suitable to simply classify housework as a kind of exercise.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaopiao Wen & Yuan Liang & Jiang Zhu & Tangchun Wu, 2013. "The Effects of Housework on the Health of Retired Older Adults: A Preliminary Investigation from the Tongji-Dongfeng Cohort Study, China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(3), pages 1-6, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0057232
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057232
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Liana Sayer & Janet Gornick, 2009. "Older Adults: International Differences in Housework and Leisure," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 215-218, August.
    2. Marie Zins & Alice Guéguen & Mika Kivimaki & Archana Singh-Manoux & Annette Leclerc & Jussi Vahtera & Hugo Westerlund & Jane E Ferrie & Marcel Goldberg, 2011. "Effect of Retirement on Alcohol Consumption: Longitudinal Evidence from the French Gazel Cohort Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(10), pages 1-8, October.
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