Mortality of the Oldest Old in China: the Impacts of Socioeconomic Status and Leisure Activities Rongjun Sun Department of Sociology Cleveland State University Yuzhi Liu Institute of Population Research Peking University

Overview Framework Objectives Data and Methods Measures Results Conclusion

Framework Psychosocial Factors Social Support Health Behaviors Socio_demographic Characteristics Age Mortality Gender SES Health Status Physical Function Psychological Function Self Rated Health

Objectives Are there any social differentials in mortality among the Chinese oldest old? Can such social differentials in mortality, if any, be explained by psychosocial risk factors and health status? What are the roles of different leisure activities for this special population?

Leisure Activities Two dimensions of activities: social vs. solitary, and active vs. sedentary (Lennartsson and Silverstein, 2001) –Social and/or physical activities (Berkman, Breslow, & Wingard, 1983; Cerhan, Chiu, Wallace, Lemke, Lynch, Torner, & Rubenstein, 1998) –Solitary and sedentary activities (Glass, Mendes de Leon, Marottoli, & Berkman, 1999; Johnson & Barer, 1997)

Data and Methods CLHLS longitudinal sample 1998 – 2000 with the sample size of 7,938 between age 80 and 105 in 1998 Kaplan – Meire estimate to show the trend Weibull hazard model to examine the mortality of these elderly within the two- year interval

Measures Demographic – age, gender SES – years of schooling and urbanicity Psychosocial risk factors – marital status, living arrangements, smoking, drinking Leisure activities – –Social (playing cards and/or mah-jong, and attending religious activities) –Solitary active (doing housework and gardening)

Measures (Cont.) –Solitary sedentary (reading newspapers/books, and watching TV or listening to the radio) Health status – –Physical – ADL, physical performance, serious illness, self-rated health –Cognitive – Mini-Mental State Examination Index

Kaplan-Meier Curve of Survival

Hazards of Mortality (Summary)

Hazards of Mortality (Cont.)

Conclusion There is social disparity in mortality even among the oldest-old in China. Mortality at very old ages is not a mere function of health status. It is subject to social, behavioral, and many other intervening factors. Withdrawal from social relationships may be an adaptive response to challenges faced at very advanced ages.