ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2014
Purpose in life and use of preventive health care services.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 138 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
138 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 328 citations in OpenAlex.
- Purpose in life and mortality: A meta-analysis of the published literature and individual-participant data of 488,765 participants followed for up to 32 years.Psychological medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Purpose in life and c-reactive protein: An individual-participant meta-analysis of >50,000 adults.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Pooled it
- Purpose in life and stress: An individual-participant meta-analysis of 16 samples.Journal of affective disorders · 2024Pooled it
- Effectiveness of an Energy Management Training Course on Employee Well-Being: A Randomized Controlled Trial.American journal of health promotion : AJHP · 2019Trial
- Personal resilience resources predict post-stem cell transplant cancer survivors' psychological outcomes through reductions in depressive symptoms and meaning-making.Journal of psychosocial oncologyTrial
- Article
- Prevalence and impact of fibromyalgia on patients with type 2 diabetes: a large-scale real-world data analysis.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2026Article
- Self-worth systems in aging societies: a narrative review and conceptual framework from self-esteem to healthy longevity.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Review
- Article
- Correlates of Purpose in Life and Their Potential Role in Successful Aging Among Older Adults in Rural Japan.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2025Article
- Potential Mechanisms of Influence Between Spiritual Practices and Cognitive Health: A Systematic Review and Conceptual Model.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Human-pet interaction and well-being in mid-to-later adulthood: moderating roles of neuroticism and anxious attachment.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Sense of purpose and emotion regulation strategy use: A mini-review with directions for future research.Journal of mood and anxiety disorders · 2025Review
- Multidimensional Determinants of Obesity: The Role of Life Purpose, Sociodemographics, and Health Habits Across Four Adiposity Scales in a Large Occupational Cohort.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Exploring potential benefits of social participation for work and life outcomes: Drawing on the Health and Retirement Study.Research square · 2025Article
- The role of purpose in life in healthy aging: implications for the Semmelweis Study and the Semmelweis-EUniWell Workplace Health Promotion Model Program.GeroScience · 2025Review
- Identifying childhood correlates of adult purpose and meaning across 22 countries (Global Flourishing Study).Npj mental health research · 2025Article
- Analytic methodology for demographic variation analyses for wave 1 of the global flourishing study.BMC global and public health · 2025Article
- Educational disparities in 20-year trajectories of psychological well-being in a national sample.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The Psychophysiological Relaxation Effects of Essential Oil Combined with Still-Life Painting Activities on Older Adults in Taiwan During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback · 2025Article
78 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Purpose in life has been linked with better health (mental and physical) and health behaviors, but its link with patterns of health care use are understudied. We hypothesized that people with higher purpose would be more proactive in taking care of their health, as indicated by a higher likelihood of using preventive health care services. We also hypothesized that people with higher purpose would spend fewer nights in the hospital. Participants (n = 7,168) were drawn from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative panel study of American adults over the age of 50, and tracked for 6 y. After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, each unit increase in purpose (on a six-point scale) was associated with a higher likelihood that people would obtain a cholesterol test [odds ratio (OR) = 1.18, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.08-1.29] or colonoscopy (OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 0.99-1.14). Furthermore, females were more likely to receive a mammogram/X-ray (OR = 1.27, 95% CI = 1.16-1.39) or pap smear (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.06-1.28), and males were more likely to receive a prostate examination (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.18-1.45). Each unit increase in purpose was also associated with 17% fewer nights spent in the hospital (rate ratio = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.77-0.89). An increasing number of randomized controlled trials show that purpose in life can be raised. Therefore, with additional research, findings from this study may inform the development of new strategies that increase the use of preventive health care services, offset the burden of rising health care costs, and enhance the quality of life among people moving into the ranks of our aging society.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.