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Journal article
Gender-Specific Population Attributable Fractions for Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality Associated with Living Arrangement in Community-Dwelling Older People
Journal of general internal medicine : JGIM, Vol.First online
25/06/2025
PMID: 40562890
Appears in Recent Faculty of Health Publications
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Abstract
Background: Living alone poses significant cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality risks. The population attributable fraction (PAF) quantifies the proportion of disease burden attributable to a specific risk factor. This study aims to estimate the PAF for CVD and all-cause mortality related to living completely alone. Additionally, the study examined the PAFs associated with not living with a partner/spouse.
Methods: This study used longitudinal data from the Aspirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) study and its sub-study, the ASPREE Longitudinal Study of Older Persons (ALSOP), which included 5853 men and 6998 women. The participants were community-dwelling healthy adults aged 70 + years without CVD, dementia, or significant physical disabilities. Adjusting for social determinants and traditional risk factors, the gender-specific PAFs of CVD and all-cause mortality attributable to living completely alone and not living with a partner/spouse were determined.
Results: Among women, 13.5% (95% CI: 6.3%, 22.4%) of CVD events could be attributed to living completely alone, and 14.1% (95% CI: 4.6%, 25.2%) to not living with a partner/spouse. For all-cause mortality in women, the corresponding PAFs were 9.8% (95% CI: 3.7%, 16.6%) and 12.3% (95% CI: 5.8%, 20.8%), respectively. In contrast, among men, only the PAF between not living with a partner/spouse and all-cause mortality reached statistical significance (PAF = 6.0%; 95% CI: 1.7%, 10.2%). The remaining PAF estimates for CVD events and all-cause mortality were not statistically significant.
Conclusion: The observed gender differences in CVD and all-cause mortality related to living alone highlight the need for tailored public health interventions to meet gender-specific needs for social connectedness.
Details
- Title
- Gender-Specific Population Attributable Fractions for Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality Associated with Living Arrangement in Community-Dwelling Older People
- Creators
- Achamyeleh Birhanu Teshale - Monash UniversityHtet Lin Htun - Monash UniversityAlice J Owen - Monash UniversityJ R Baker - Southern Cross UniversityIrja Isaksen - Monash UniversityRosanne Freak-Poli - Monash University
- Publication Details
- Journal of general internal medicine : JGIM, Vol.First online
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Grant note
- National Institute on Aging and the National Cancer Institute at the U.S. National Institutes of Health
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land across Australia, where the authors reside and work, and we pay our respects to their Elders past and present. We are grateful to the ASPREE team for gathering the social and clinical data and for their contributions throughout this study, as well as to the adjudicators of CVD and all-cause mortality.
- Identifiers
- 991013290963902368
- Copyright
- © The Author(s) 2025.
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Health
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article