Female seniors who are coping with psychological or financial stress appear to be more likely to die sooner, a Statistics Canada study suggests.

Psychological distress – reporting frequent feelings of sadness, worthlessness or helplessness – was a major factor in mortality in women aged 65 or older compared to those who scored low on the distress scale.

Psychological distress was associated with death in female seniors over an eight-year period.

"The results suggest that an individual's mental health, specifically psychological distress, can influence survival," Kathryn Wilkins of Statistics Canada's health statistics division wrote in the report.

Wilkins studied a group of 2,400 seniors between 1994-1995 and 2002-2003 using a national survey and database of deaths.

Psychological distress remained a major mortality factor for women, even after taking into account other factors such as age, family and financial stress, level of education, major chronic diseases, smoking, weight and use of alcohol.

Of those reporting high levels of psychological distress in 1994/95, 62 per cent of men and 44 per cent of women died.

For those who reported lower levels of distress, the figures were 37 per cent among men and 25 per cent in women.

Sex differences

But in men over 65, the association between stress and mortality was reduced once the impact of chronic diseases was factored in.

The difference between the sexes might be a consequence of higher levels of distress and financial stress in women, Wilkins wrote.

It may also suggest men are more vulnerable to the effects of chronic, degenerative conditions such as heart disease and cancer, the report said.

It's not known why psychological distress is linked to risk of dying in women.

"Poor emotional health may relate indirectly to death if resistance is lowered via neglect of physical needs," Wilkins concluded. "Or, the relationship may be more direct, through alterations of the immune response and other physiological defence symptoms."

Women who said they did not have enough money to cover necessities in 1994/95 had a greater likelihood of dying in eight years compared to women who reported sufficient means. The relationship was reversed for men.

For both men and women, the likelihood of dying was greater among seniors who had not completed secondary school.

Male widowers also had a "strikingly higher" likelihood of dying compared to men who were married or living with a partner.