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Features for Senior Citizens
Spouses Usually Mirror Each Other's Health Habits
Smokers more than five times more likely to quit
smoking if spouse quit
 Oct. 3, 2007- If one spouse exercises, quits
smoking, stops drinking alcohol, receives a flu shot, or undergoes a
cholesterol screening, the other spouse is more likely to do the same,
according to a new study in Health Services Research.
We found that when one spouse improves his or her
health behavior, the other spouse was likely to do so as well, said
co-author Jody Sindelar, health economist and public health professor in
the Yale School of Public Health.
This was consistent across all the behaviors
analyzed and was similar among both males and females.
Using longitudinal data on 6,072 individuals and
their spouses from the Health and Retirement Study, the researchers
found the changes in spouses health habits were most apparent in such
behavior as smoking and drinking, which is often spurred by outside
cues, and in patient-directed preventive behavior, such as getting a flu
shot.
For example, smokers were more than five times more
likely to quit smoking if their spouse quit, when controlling for other
relevant factors. Similarly, spouses were five times more likely to quit
drinking alcohol if their partner didnt drink.
The changes were less apparent in
clinician-directed preventive behavior, such as obtaining cholesterol
screening.
Sindelar and co-author Tracy Falba, M.D., visiting
assistant professor at Duke University's Center for Health Policy, Law
and Management, said health habits and use of preventive services should
be viewed in the context of a family.
They said attempts to change behavior may be
enhanced, or thwarted, by the behavior of family members, especially
spouses. For this reason, they said, intervention programs should
include tips about how to get the other spouse involved in exercise or
help reduce tobacco cues.
Editors Notes:
The study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation and the National Institute on Aging.
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