Table 3.
Associations Between Measures of Social Supporta and All-Cause Mortality and Cardiovascular Mortality in the Whitehall II Study, 1985–2009
| All-Cause Mortality | CVD Mortality | |||||||
| Men (n = 6,339; deaths = 519) | Women (n = 2,994; deaths = 225) | Men (n = 6,334; deaths = 168) | Women (n = 2,990; deaths = 44) | |||||
| HR | 95% CI | HR | 95% CI | HR | 95% CI | HR | 95% CI | |
| Confiding/emotional support | ||||||||
| Quartiles 2, 3, and 4 | 1.00 | Referent | 1.00 | Referent | 1.00 | Referent | 1.00 | Referent |
| Quartile 1b | ||||||||
| Adjusted for age | 0.97 | 0.80, 1.17 | 0.68 | 0.50, 0.93 | 1.18 | 0.85, 1.63 | 0.76 | 0.38, 1.52 |
| Additionally adjusted for SES and SRH | 0.89 | 0.74, 1.08 | 0.68 | 0.49, 0.93 | 1.07 | 0.77, 1.48 | 0.79 | 0.40, 1.56 |
| Practical support | ||||||||
| Quartiles 2, 3, and 4 | 1.00 | Referent | 1.00 | Referent | 1.00 | Referent | 1.00 | Referent |
| Quartile 1b | ||||||||
| Adjusted for age | 1.05 | 0.87, 1.27 | 0.73 | 0.55, 0.96 | 1.36 | 1.00, 1.87 | 0.88 | 0.48, 1.63 |
| Additionally adjusted for SES and SRH | 1.01 | 0.84, 1.22 | 0.76 | 0.58, 1.01 | 1.27 | 0.92, 1.74 | 1.02 | 0.55, 1.88 |
| Negative aspects of close relationships | ||||||||
| Quartiles 1, 2, and 3 | 1.00 | Referent | 1.00 | Referent | 1.00 | Referent | 1.00 | Referent |
| Quartile 4b | ||||||||
| Adjusted for age | 0.85 | 0.69, 1.05 | 0.94 | 0.69, 1.27 | 1.05 | 0.74, 1.49 | 0.74 | 0.35, 1.54 |
| Additionally adjusted for SES and SRH | 0.76 | 0.62, 0.95 | 0.84 | 0.62, 1.14 | 0.91 | 0.64, 1.30 | 0.61 | 0.29, 1.27 |
| Network score | ||||||||
| Quartiles 2, 3, and 4 | 1.00 | Referent | 1.00 | Referent | 1.00 | Referent | 1.00 | Referent |
| Quartile 1b | ||||||||
| Adjusted for age | 1.27 | 1.07, 1.52 | 1.20 | 0.92, 1.57 | 1.85 | 1.36, 2.51 | 1.40 | 0.77, 1.55 |
| Additionally adjusted for SES and SRH | 1.18 | 0.99, 1.40 | 1.18 | 0.90, 1.53 | 1.66 | 1.22, 2.26 | 1.40 | 0.77, 1.54 |
| Marital status | ||||||||
| Married or cohabiting | 1.00 | Referent | 1.00 | Referent | 1.00 | Referent | 1.00 | Referent |
| Not married/cohabiting | ||||||||
| Adjusted for age | 1.77 | 1.45, 2.16 | 1.14 | 0.87, 1.48 | 2.69 | 1.95, 3.71 | 1.52 | 0.84, 2.76 |
| Additionally adjusted for SES and SRH | 1.51 | 1.23, 1.86 | 1.14 | 0.88, 1.49 | 2.16 | 1.55, 3.03 | 1.66 | 0.92, 3.01 |
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; HR, hazard ratio; SES, socioeconomic status; SRH, self-rated health.
a
Measures were entered into the models as time-dependent variables. None of the measures of social support was related to cancer mortality (results not shown).
b
Results are for the lowest quartile (or highest quartile for negative aspects of close relationships) compared with the other 3 quartiles grouped together, which served as the reference categories (see Materials and Methods).