Astri Syse, Statistics Norway

About the Presentation

Dr. Syse will be presenting a study examining the association between a partner’s resources (e.g. education, income, health) and the health of the other partner, using Norwegian registry data. Factors associated with health outcomes are often examined in an individual perspective, even though persons often are influenced (through selection or causation) by the resources of surrounding family members. The work in progress presented here examines the role played by cohabiting or marital partners, but the analysis will later be extended to include also information on adult children. Since registry data are utilized which contain no direct reports of health status, proxies for health are used and include mortality and welfare use data (e.g. sick leave, disability pension, other medical benefits). Altogether, the sample include around 1.8 million individuals age 50-75 during the period 2005-2015. The analyses employ logistic and discrete-time hazard regression models, controlling for demographic factors of both partners and discrepancies in these. Results and implications of the role family members may play for an individual’s health will be discussed.

About the Speaker

Astri Syse is a Senior Researcher at the Department of Research at Statistics Norway (2013-). During Fall 2017, she is a visiting scholar at the Maryland Population Research Center. She has previously worked at the Norwegian Cancer Registry and at the Norwegian Social Research Institute, and spent one year as a Fulbright scholar at Dartmouth College. As an epidemiologist with additional training in demography and sociology, her research interests relate to mortality, morbidity and healthy aging, and how family members’ behaviors affect one another. Her published work includes public health research on cancer survivorship, labor participation, welfare use and mortality (see www.ssb.no/en/forskning/ansatte/astri-syse). Her latest efforts focus on the impact of geospatial distances between persons and health services, for use and outcomes, but this work has just been initiated. She received her BA in allied health from the University of Vermont, her MSc in education from the University of Oslo, and her PhD in public health from the Institute of Health and Society at the University of Oslo.