I talked about it here and yesterday, ReutersHealth published an article about Frisch’s gay mortality study. With a sure to be provocative title, the article summarizes the main findings.
I have been surprised that only bloggers – and few of them – have picked up on this research. There is a little something here for everyone; there is some evidence of reduced longevity but not to the degree hoped for by the Camerons.
Mortality declines as same-sex marriage endures
Last Updated: 2008-11-24 13:33:59 -0400 (Reuters Health)
By Joene Hendry
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Mortality among same-sex married men and women in Denmark is higher than that of the general population within the first 3 years of marriage, but then declines to more closely resemble mortality the general Danish population, researchers report.
Nevertheless, these findings sharply contradict what Frisch’s group describes as “flawed claims” that people in same-sex marriages live an average of 20 years shorter than heterosexually married people.
The last sentence, of course, refers to the Camerons.
Thanks.
Do you know of HIV/AIDS surveillance studies that link infection rates with registered parternship rates?
@Chairm: It only looks at the marriage groups. The study may not generalize to unmarried gays which would be most of them in Denmark. Yes, age was adjusted for. I do not know how AIDS was accounted for except that the years of marriage were broken down pre-HAART and post-HAART.
I should hasten to ask: did the researchers also use prevalence and incidence rates of HIV/AIDs infection?
Warren, does the study look at the available evidence in terms of the marital population — comparing registered parnterships of man-woman, man-man, and woman-woman?
I ask because the abstract suggested that they compared the general population, with the same-sex married population — rather than comparing subgroups within the marital population.
Did they adjust for age, too, when estimating the mortality rate per sub-population?
I may be recalling incorrectly, but I thought that the median age of same-sexers was significanty higher than for both-sexers.