ABSTRACTBackground Partnership break-upand living aloneis associated with several negative health-relatedoutcomes. Little is known about the association withphysical functional ability in a life course perspective.The aim of this study is to investigate (1) the associationbetween number of partnership break-upsand yearsliving alone across 26 years of adult life respectivelyand objectively measured physical capability in midlife,(2) how the joint exposure of accumulated break-upsor years living alone respectively, and education relatesto physical capability in midlife and (3) potential genderdifferences.Methods Longitudinal study of 5001 Danes aged48–62. Accumulated number of partnership break-upsand years living alone were retrieved from nationalregisters. Handgrip strength (HGS) and number of chairrises (CR) were recorded as outcomes in multivariatelinear regression analyses adjusted for sociodemographicfactors, early major life events and personality.Results Increasing number of years living alone wasassociated with poorer HGS and fewer CR. Concomitantexposure to short educational level and break-upsorlong duration of time living alone respectively wasassociated with poorer physical capability compared withthe groups with long educational level and no break-upsor few years lived alone.Conclusion Accumulated number of years living alonebut not break-upswas associated with poorer physicalfunctional ability. Joint exposure to a high number ofyears lived alone or break-upsrespectively and havinga short education was associated with the lowest levelsof functional ability, which points towards an importanttarget group for interventions. No gender differenceswere suggested.
Nersesjan et al. (2023) studied this question.