School of Public Health, Texas A&M Health Science Center, 212 Adriance Lab Rd., College Station, TX 77843, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 18;20(3):1726. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20031726.
The primary purpose of the present study was to assess differences in physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), and mental health (i.e., depression, suicidal thoughts, and cognitive function) by marital status (i.e., married and widowed) within an aging population in South Korea. PA, SB, and mental health were evaluated in 9092 older adults by comparing the married group ( = 5773, 73.2 ± 5.9 years, 63.5%) to the widowed group ( = 3319, 75.8 ± 6.8 years, 36.5%). Between-group differences in PA, SB, depression, and cognitive function were tested using independent -tests, and the association between marital status and gender was evaluated using two-way ANOVA. Suicidal thoughts were analyzed using a Mann-Whitney U-test. Older adults in the widowed group participated in significantly less PA ( < 0.001) and had higher SB ( < 0.001) per week, especially the widows, who had significantly less PA ( < 0.01) and had higher SB ( < 0.001) compared to married women. Participants in the widowed group experienced more depression ( < 0.001) and suicidal thoughts ( < 0.001) and had significantly lower cognitive function compared to participants in the married group ( < 0.001). Between the two groups, widowers were more vulnerable to all mental health factors compared to those in the married group. At the same time, widows were only more vulnerable to depression and cognitive function compared to women in the married group. Findings indicated that the presence of a spouse is strongly associated with higher PA levels, lower SB, and better mental health among older adults. Spouses are the primary social supports and play a major role in the health and emotional well-being of the aging population. Given the importance of the spouse, our study suggests that health educators working with older widows should prioritize several different forms of social support to benefit their physical and mental health.
本研究的主要目的是评估韩国老年人群中，婚姻状况（已婚和丧偶）对体力活动（PA）、久坐行为（SB）和心理健康（即抑郁、自杀意念和认知功能）的影响。通过比较已婚组（n=5773，73.2±5.9 岁，63.5%）和丧偶组（n=3319，75.8±6.8 岁，36.5%），评估了 9092 名老年人的 PA、SB 和心理健康。采用独立样本 t 检验比较两组间 PA、SB、抑郁和认知功能的差异，采用双因素方差分析评估婚姻状况和性别之间的关系。采用 Mann-Whitney U 检验分析自杀意念。丧偶组老年人每周的 PA 显著减少（<0.001），SB 显著增加（<0.001），尤其是丧偶女性，PA 显著减少（<0.01），SB 显著增加（<0.001）。丧偶组参与者的抑郁（<0.001）和自杀意念（<0.001）发生率更高，认知功能明显低于已婚组（<0.001）。与已婚组相比，丧偶组的男性和女性在所有心理健康因素上都更容易受到影响。同时，丧偶女性在抑郁和认知功能方面比已婚女性更容易受到影响。研究结果表明，配偶的存在与老年人更高的 PA 水平、更低的 SB 和更好的心理健康密切相关。配偶是主要的社会支持，对老年人口的健康和情感幸福起着重要作用。鉴于配偶的重要性，我们的研究表明，与老年丧偶妇女合作的健康教育工作者应优先考虑多种不同形式的社会支持，以促进她们的身心健康。
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