The significant of an ill spouse for assessing health differences in an elderly population.

In a survey of 678 elderly residents of Alameda County, California, it was found that respondents who reported their spouses as being ill in the last six months were more likely to report their own health as poor than those respondents whose spouses were not previously ill. The spouse's health was found to be the best predictor of the respondent's health. Research in this area may lead to a better understanding of the elderly spouse as a source of social support and may provide geriatricians with new insights into the health risks facing the married elderly.

Supportive exchange: an exploration of the relationship between social contacts and perceived health status in the elderly.

While social ties are known to bear an important relationship to health status among the elderly, the components of that association remain unclear. This study explored the hypothesis that 'supportive exchange', or the giving and seeking of advice and other forms of assistance, bears an important relationship to perceived health status. Six-hundred and seventy-eight elderly residents of Alameda County, CA, participated in this survey research study, which examined social ties, supportive exchange, and health status. A strong relationship was found between a key dimension of supportive exchange - the giving and seeking of advice - and self-reported health status. The association between advice seeking and health status was particularly high, demonstrating that advice seeking may be as strongly associated with health status as social ties. While it is important to develop refined indices for the measurement of other dimensions of supportive exchange, this exploratory study suggests that the concept may be a useful one in furthering research on the relationship between health status and social contacts among the elderly.