The association of education gap among spouses and health-related quality of life: a population-based retrospective study

Abstract

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between marital education gap and the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of husband and wife, and further examine the differences in this relationship at different levels of HRQOL Methods Firstly, univariate analysis was used to preliminarily examine the distribution differences of various variables in HRQOL. Secondly, linear regression was applied to analyze the relationship between marital education gap and the HRQOL of husband and wife. Finally, quantile regression was utilized to examine the differences of this relationship at different levels of HRQOL. Results Overall, the education gap between spouses has a positive impact on the HRQOL of both husband and wife, but special attention should also be paid to the situation where the wife's health level is much higher than that of the husband, which has no significant impact on the HRQOL of both husband and wife. The study also found that the improvement effect of education gap is mainly reflected in the lower level of HRQOL. Conclusions Research provides new insights into improving HRQOL from the perspective of educational disparities. Some measures can be further taken to enhance this positive impact. It is also important to pay attention to the adverse effects on each other when the wife's education level is much higher than that of the husband.