| Title |
A chapter a day: Association of book reading with longevity
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Social Science & Medicine, July 2016
|
| DOI | 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.014 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Avni Bavishi, Martin D. Slade, Becca R. Levy |
| Abstract |
Although books can expose people to new people and places, whether books also have health benefits beyond other types of reading materials is not known. This study examined whether those who read books have a survival advantage over those who do not read books and over those who read other types of materials, and if so, whether cognition mediates this book reading effect. The cohort consisted of 3635 participants in the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study who provided information about their reading patterns at baseline. Cox proportional hazards models were based on survival information up to 12 years after baseline. A dose-response survival advantage was found for book reading by tertile (HRT2 = 0.83, p < 0.001, HRT3 = 0.77, p < 0.001), after adjusting for relevant covariates including age, sex, race, education, comorbidities, self-rated health, wealth, marital status, and depression. Book reading contributed to a survival advantage that was significantly greater than that observed for reading newspapers or magazines (tT2 = 90.6, p < 0.001; tT3 = 67.9, p < 0.001). Compared to non-book readers, book readers had a 23-month survival advantage at the point of 80% survival in the unadjusted model. A survival advantage persisted after adjustment for all covariates (HR = .80, p < .01), indicating book readers experienced a 20% reduction in risk of mortality over the 12 years of follow up compared to non-book readers. Cognition mediated the book reading-survival advantage (p = 0.04). These findings suggest that the benefits of reading books include a longer life in which to read them. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 1,594 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 212 | 13% |
| France | 113 | 7% |
| United Kingdom | 84 | 5% |
| Spain | 50 | 3% |
| Thailand | 42 | 3% |
| Canada | 31 | 2% |
| Ecuador | 19 | 1% |
| Norway | 19 | 1% |
| Japan | 18 | 1% |
| Other | 249 | 16% |
| Unknown | 757 | 47% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 1367 | 86% |
| Scientists | 83 | 5% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 79 | 5% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 64 | 4% |
| Unknown | 1 | <1% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 202 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 2 | <1% |
| Spain | 2 | <1% |
| United States | 2 | <1% |
| Belgium | 1 | <1% |
| Switzerland | 1 | <1% |
| Poland | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 193 | 96% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 31 | 15% |
| Researcher | 25 | 12% |
| Student > Master | 23 | 11% |
| Student > Bachelor | 19 | 9% |
| Librarian | 10 | 5% |
| Other | 38 | 19% |
| Unknown | 56 | 28% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 33 | 16% |
| Social Sciences | 28 | 14% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 19 | 9% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 7 | 3% |
| Computer Science | 7 | 3% |
| Other | 43 | 21% |
| Unknown | 65 | 32% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 3059. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 29 March 2024.
All research outputs
#2,146
of 25,784,004 outputs
Outputs from Social Science & Medicine
#2
of 12,010 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#10
of 379,054 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Social Science & Medicine
#1
of 134 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,784,004 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 12,010 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 19.3. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 134 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.