Association between exposure to health information and mortality: Reduced mortality among women exposed to information via TV programs

Koryu Sato, Kasisomayajula Viswanath, Hana Hayashi, Yoshiki Ishikawa, Katsunori Kondo, Kokoro Shirai, Naoki Kondo, Keisuke Nakagawa and Ichiro Kawachi

Social Science & Medicine, 2019, vol. 221, issue C, 124-131

Abstract: Health communication inequality is one of the potential mechanisms linking socioeconomic status (SES) to health disparities. To our knowledge, no previous study has examined the association between exposure to health information and mortality. We analyzed 3-year follow-up cohort data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES), involving 8544 males and 9698 females aged 65 years or older, to examine associations between exposure to health information via different types of media and mortality. The baseline survey was conducted from October to December 2013 in 21 municipalities in Japan. Adjusted for health conditions, health behaviors, and other potential confounders, Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) of all-cause mortality. Over a mean of 3.2 years of follow-up, 956 deaths occurred. Among females, receiving health information from TV programs was associated with lower mortality (HR = 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.83, 0.98). By contrast, there were no significant associations among males. Our findings suggest that improving the accuracy of health information delivered via television might be beneficial.

Keywords: Health communication inequality; Television; Mortality; Japanese elderly (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.12.019

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