Department of Sociology, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, USA.
J Health Soc Behav. 2013 Jun;54(2):183-203. doi: 10.1177/0022146513485244. Epub 2013 May 6.
The health and survival benefits of social embeddedness have been widely documented across social species, but the underlying biophysiological mechanisms have not been elucidated in the general population. We assessed the process by which social isolation increases the risk for all-cause and chronic disease mortality through proinflammatory mechanisms. Using the 18-year mortality follow-up data (n = 6,729) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988-2006) on Social Network Index and multiple markers of chronic inflammation, we conducted survival analyses and found evidence that supports the mediation role of chronic inflammation in the link between social isolation and mortality. A high-risk fibrinogen level and cumulative inflammation burden may be particularly important in this link. There are notable sex differences in the mortality effects of social isolation in that they are greater for men and can be attributed in part to their heightened inflammatory responses.
社会联系对健康和生存的益处已在各种社会物种中得到广泛证实，但在普通人群中，其潜在的生物生理机制尚未阐明。我们评估了社会隔离通过促炎机制增加全因和慢性疾病死亡率的过程。利用来自国家健康和营养调查（1988-2006 年）的社会网络指数和多种慢性炎症标志物的 18 年死亡率随访数据（n=6729），我们进行了生存分析，并发现了支持慢性炎症在社会隔离与死亡率之间的中介作用的证据。高风险的纤维蛋白原水平和累积炎症负担在这一联系中可能特别重要。社会隔离对死亡率的影响存在显著的性别差异，对男性的影响更大，部分原因是他们的炎症反应更强烈。
