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Cited by 140Health disparities and outcomesAttachment and Relationship DynamicsSocial Capital and Networks

Social contact frequency and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis and meta-regression

Shor, Eran, Roelfs, David J.·2015·Social Science & Medicine
DOI 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.01.010
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Abstract

Social contact frequency is a well-defined and relatively objective measure of social relationships, which according to many studies is closely associated with health and longevity. However, no previous meta-analysis has isolated this measure; existing reviews instead aggregate social contact with other diverse measures of social support, leaving unexplored the unique contribution of social contact to mortality. Furthermore, no study has sufficiently explored the factors that may moderate the relationship between contact frequency and mortality. We conducted meta-analyses and meta-regressions to examine 187 all-cause mortality risk estimates from 91 publications, providing data on about 400,000 persons. The mean hazard ratio (HR) for mortality among those with lower levels of social contact frequency was 1.13 (p < 0.05) among multivariate-adjusted HRs. However, sub-group meta-analyses show that there is no significant relationship between contact and mortality for male individuals and that contact with family members does not have a significant effect. The moderate effect sizes and the lack of association for some subgroups suggest that mere social contact frequency may not be as beneficial to one's health as previously thought.

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Authors
Shor, E., & Roelfs, D. J.
Affiliations
  • McGill University (CA)
  • University of Louisville (US)
Corresponding author
Shor, Eran
ORCID
Venue
Social Science & Medicine
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2015-03
Volume
128
Pages
76-86
ISSN
0277-9536 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.01.010
OpenAlex
W2090713767
Cited by
140
References
166
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2
FWCI
1.59
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Social Science & Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social Capital and Networks
Keywords
social contact frequency, all-cause mortality, interpersonal relationships, social support, longevity, sex differences, family contact
MeSH terms
Cause of Death, Female, Humans, Male, Mortality, Risk Factors, Social Support

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