JOURNAL ARTICLE
RESEARCH SUPPORT, NON-U.S. GOV'T
Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Housing wealth and mortality: A register linkage study of the Finnish population.

In many countries home ownership is the main form of property and covers a major part of people's possessions. Since overall wealth is difficult to measure, many health studies have used home ownership as an indicator of wealth and material resources. However, most studies have measured housing wealth with a simple dichotomous measure of home ownership. We examined the associations between three different measures of housing wealth and overall mortality, separating subsidized renters and private renters, and using floor area and the number of rooms as measures of dwelling size. We further examined whether other socioeconomic factors, level of urbanisation of the region of residence, and household composition account for the found associations. Finns aged 35-79 years at the end of 1999 were followed up until the end of 2004. Data were drawn from various registers combined by Statistics Finland and linked with death records. The age-adjusted hazard ratio for mortality among subsidized renters compared to owner-occupiers was 2.26 in men and 1.87 in women. However, also private renters had clearly higher mortality than owner-occupiers, with the excess mortality of 92% in men and 61% in women. Both measures of home size were also strongly associated with mortality, with the excess risk of 1.7-3.0 in the lowest home size quintile compared to the highest. Adjusting for socioeconomic factors and mutually for all housing wealth measures considerably attenuated the associations. Further adjustment for urbanisation had no effect whereas adjustment for household size, marital status and living arrangements attenuated the associations of the two home size measures and mortality. However, a clear association remained between all housing wealth measures and mortality after all adjustments. Housing wealth summarises one's material circumstances over a prolonged period of time. Measures of housing wealth may therefore provide useful social classifications for studies on poor health and mortality especially in older age groups where most deaths occur.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app