Correspondence should be addressed to Andrew Fenelon, Population Studies & Training Center, Brown University, 68 Waterman Street, Providence, RI 02912. E-mail:
Published: January 2014
AI Article Synopsis
Article Abstract
Objectives: Becoming widowed is a known risk factor for mortality. This article examines the magnitude of, explanations for, and variation in the association between widowhood and mortality. Previous research on widowhood mortality has revealed variation by socioeconomic status (SES), in that SES is not protective in widowhood, and by gender, such that men's mortality increases more than women's mortality after the death of spouse.
Method: Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, we estimated Cox proportional hazard models to estimate the association between widowhood and mortality.
Results: Becoming widowed is associated with a 48% increase in risk of mortality. Approximately one third of the increase can be attributed to selection, in that those who become widows are socioeconomically disadvantaged. In contrast to previous studies, SES is protective for widows. Widowhood mortality risk increases for men if their wives' deaths were unexpected rather than expected; for women, the extent to which their husbands' death was expected matters less.
Discussion: Widowhood's harmful association with mortality show how strongly social support and individual's health and mortality are related. These findings support the larger literature on the importance of social support for health and longevity.
Background And Objectives: Previous studies have indicated that married people are generally healthier than unmarried people, with lower mortality rates. Most work in this area has employed cross-sectional data, and few studies have examined change in marital status from married to unmarried as a potential social ecological determinant of dental health behavior. Here, we used longitudinal data to examine change in dental behavior over time following marital status change, and to explore whether self-reported gender may play a modifying role in any behavioral change.
* The study aims to review existing literature on these practices and their effects on Nigerian women both in Nigeria and the US, guiding future research directions.
* Key findings reveal seven themes related to the treatment of widows, poverty, the influence of culture, and various health-related issues, highlighting the need for more research in the Nigerian American community.
Context: Social ties are associated with the mortality and morbidity of aging populations; however, the role of social ties in healthy eating practices or gender differences in this link is less understood.
Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the longitudinal evidence for the impact of changes in social ties on fruit and vegetable (FV) intakes among aging adults, with attention to gender differences.
Data Sources: Medline, Embase, Scopus, CINAHL, and ProQuest databases were searched until December 2022.
Importance: The widowhood effect, in which mortality increases and function decreases in the period following spousal death, may be heightened in older adults with functional impairment and serious illnesses, such as cancer, dementia, or organ failure, who are highly reliant on others, particularly spouses, for support. Yet there are limited data on widowhood among people with these conditions.
Objective: To determine the association of widowhood with function and mortality among older adults with dementia, cancer, or organ failure.
