Marriage and Multimorbidity in Later Life: Evidence from ELSI-Brazil

Population ageing in Brazil has been accompanied by an increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and functional limitations, highlighting the role of social determinants in shaping health inequalities. Among these, marital status is a well-established correlate of health and survival, yet most evidence derives from high-income contexts. This study investigates the association between marital status and multimorbidity among older adults in Brazil, drawing on nationally representative data from the 2015–2016 wave of ELSI-Brazil, a nationally representative study of adults aged 50+. Multimorbidity was defined as two or more self-reported chronic conditions. Associations between marital status and multimorbidity were estimated using weighted logistic regression models adjusted for sociodemographic factors. Preliminary findings suggest that contrary to the conventional marital-protection hypothesis, married and widowed individuals exhibit slightly higher prevalence of multimorbidity compared to single respondents. These associations remain after adjustment, and appear to differ by gender and education, indicating that social and economic heterogeneity may mediate the link between marriage and health. Results contribute to a broader understanding of how conjugal status interacts with structural inequalities to shape the burden of chronic diseases in later life within a rapidly ageing middle-income society.