Background
We evaluated the effects of socioeconomic factors and psychosocial factors, both individually and combined, on all-cause mortality risk (mortality risk).
Methods
We conducted an 8-year (2006–2014) longitudinal analysis of 10,247 individuals who took part in the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, a nationwide survey of people aged 45–79 years. Socioeconomic vulnerability (SEV) was assessed with factors such as education, household income, commercial health insurance, and residential area. Mental health (MH) was assessed with factors such as depression, social engagement, and life satisfaction. The covariates were age, gender, marital status, cohabiting, number of chronic diseases, and health behaviors such as regular exercise, smoking, and alcohol intake. We used a Cox proportional hazard analysis to investigate the effects of SEV and MH on mortality risk and also to analyze the superimposed effects of SEV-MH on mortality risk.
Results
After the controlling for the covariates, high SEV and negative MH were found to be strong predictors of all-cause mortality. The highest quartile of SEV (vs. lowest) had a 1.70 times greater mortality risk (hazard ratio [HR], 1.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.24–2.33) and the highest quartile of MH (vs. lowest) had a 2.13 times greater mortality risk (HR, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.72–2.64). Being in the highest quartile for both SEV and MH (vs. lowest) increased mortality risk more than 3 times (HR, 3.11; 95% CI, 2.20–4.40).
Conclusion
High SEV and negative MH were independently associated with increased mortality risk, and their superimposed effects were associated with an increased risk of mortality.

Citations

• Sustained Low Income, Income Changes, and Risk of All-Cause Mortality in Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study
  Hong Seok Lee, Jimin Clara Park, Inkwan Chung, Junxiu Liu, Seong-Su Lee, Kyungdo Han
  Diabetes Care.2023; 46(1): 92.     CrossRef
• The role of social factors in the successful ageing – Systematic review
  J. Takács, C. Nyakas
  Developments in Health Sciences.2022; 4(1): 11.     CrossRef
• Combined Effects of Depression and Chronic Disease on the Risk of Mortality: The Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (2006-2016)
  Hyunji Kim, Sung Hi Kim, Yoon Jeong Cho
  Journal of Korean Medical Science.2021;[Epub]     CrossRef
• KLoSA—Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging
  Jungun Lee
  Korean Journal of Family Medicine.2020; 41(1): 1.     CrossRef