Is your spouse’s health affecting yours?

If your partner is depressed or in poor physical health, it is more than likely that you are too, a recent study has revealed.

The study in Health Psychology, which analysed a survey of 1,700 of older Americans (many of whom had been married for more than 40 years), also showed the opposite is true as well.

The study reported that it has long been clear that when one spouse has Alzheimer’s, for example, it puts a huge stress on the other, often shortening lifespan.

In this study, researchers for the first time looked across-the-board at older people of all health status, and at both mental and physical health.

Assistant professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, Christiane Hoppmann said, medical care for people in their 70s, 80s and 90s currently addresses only the individual.

Ms Hoppmann’s research suggested we should be looking at couples as a health unit, with both spouses seeing the same doctor, for instance, and caregivers considering the impact of a health crisis on both spouses.

She also cautions that the data set she used in her study – a pre-existing survey that followed couples for 15 years – looked at the oldest of the old, many of whom had been married for decades and decades.

“That generation survived the Depression and World War II and may have a different relationship with each other than the ageing baby boomers, who married later and are more likely to have been divorced,” Ms Hoppmann said.

The report quoted Dr. Suzanne E. Salamon, who said the study resonates with the patients she sees every day as associate chief of clinical geriatrics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

“I have a couple where the woman has the most debilitating physical disease that would depress anybody, but her husband is the most amazing upbeat guy,” Dr Salamon said.

“Unfortunately, more common is one spouse who is “really cranky, and it does pull the other down. The healthier spouse is stuck at home isolated from friends and activities that we know can promote healthy ageing,” she said.

Dr Salamon said the new study suggests to her that staying at home isn’t always the best option for ageing older adults because it can be very isolating.

“Assisted living facilities that provide social outlets may be happier places for couples to grow old. Some provide a continuum of care, so a healthier spouse can remain active, while the one who is most sick slows down.”