Prognosis: Large Social Networks May Help Surgical Patients

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/health/19prog.html


Having a large network of friends and family may help you do better in surgical procedures... this shouldn't be surprising.

Interestingly, researchers studied 605 people scheduled for chest or abdominal operations. They estimated their social connectedness by determining how many close friends and relatives each had, and how often they attended social functions.

The article suggests that the one-fifth of patients with the smallest social networks reported almost twice as much postoperative pain intensity as the one-fifth with the largest. Smaller social networks were also associated with longer hospital stays.

I'm sure everyone that's been to the hospital for any reason, or knows a family or friend in the hospital, is aware of the importance of having many people around.