Mortality After the Death of a Spouse: Rates and Causes of Death in a Large Finnish Cohort

Overview

Journal Am J Public Health

Specialty Public Health

Date 1996 Aug 1

PMID 8712266

Citations 85

Authors

P Martikainen

T Valkonen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objectives: This study examines excess mortality among Finnish persons after the death of a spouse, by sex, the subject's cause of death, duration of bereavement, and age.

Methods: The subjects were 1580000 married Finnish persons aged 35 through 84 years who were followed up from 1986 through 1991.

Results: Excess mortality among the bereaved was high from accidental, violent, and alcohol-related causes (50% to 150%), moderate for chronic ischemic heart disease and lung cancer (20% to 35%), and small for other causes (5% to 15%). Excess mortality was greater at short ( < 6 months) rather than long durations of bereavement and among younger rather than older bereaved persons for most causes of death; it was also greater among men that women.

Conclusions: The results are consistent with the hypothesis that excess mortality after the death of a spouse is partly caused by stress. The loss of social support or the inability to cope with stress may explain why men suffer from bereavement more than do women.

Citing Articles

The Relationship between Addictive Use of Short-Video Platforms and Marital Satisfaction in Older Chinese Couples: An Asymmetrical Dyadic Process.

Deng J, Wang M, Mu W, Li S, Zhu N, Luo X Behav Sci (Basel). 2024; 14(5).

PMID: 38785855 PMC: 11117833. DOI: 10.3390/bs14050364.

Reducing childhood mortality extends mothers' lives.

Zipple M Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):10649.

PMID: 38724642 PMC: 11082133. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-61217-w.

Pair bonding and disruption impact lung transcriptome in monogamous Peromyscus californicus.

Naderi A, Liles K, Burns T, Chavez B, Huynh-Dam K, Kiaris H BMC Genomics. 2023; 24(1):789.

PMID: 38114920 PMC: 10729396. DOI: 10.1186/s12864-023-09873-6.

Is it Better to Intermarry? Immigration Background of Married Couples and Suicide Risk Among Native-Born and Migrant Persons in Sweden.

Oksuzyan A, Drefahl S, Caputo J, Aradhya S Eur J Popul. 2023; 39(1):8.

PMID: 36890348 PMC: 9995640. DOI: 10.1007/s10680-023-09650-x.

Association between poor self-reported health and unmarried status among adults: examining the hypothesis of marriage protection and marriage selection in the Indian context.

Hossain B, James K BMC Public Health. 2022; 22(1):1797.

PMID: 36138371 PMC: 9494833. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-022-14170-0.

References

Kohen J . Old but not alone: informal social supports among the elderly by marital status and sex. Gerontologist. 1983; 23(1):57-63. DOI: 10.1093/geront/23.1.57. View

Irwin M, Patterson T, Smith T, Caldwell C, Brown S, Gillin J . Reduction of immune function in life stress and depression. Biol Psychiatry. 1990; 27(1):22-30. DOI: 10.1016/0006-3223(90)90016-u. View

Kaprio J, Koskenvuo M, Rita H . Mortality after bereavement: a prospective study of 95,647 widowed persons. Am J Public Health. 1987; 77(3):283-7. PMC: 1646890. DOI: 10.2105/ajph.77.3.283. View

Jones D, Goldblatt P . Cause of death in widow(er)s and spouses. J Biosoc Sci. 1987; 19(1):107-21. DOI: 10.1017/s0021932000016667. View

Parkes C, Benjamin B, FITZGERALD R . Broken heart: a statistical study of increased mortality among widowers. Br Med J. 1969; 1(5646):740-3. PMC: 1982801. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.1.5646.740. View

Helsing K, Szklo M . Mortality after bereavement. Am J Epidemiol. 1981; 114(1):41-52. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a113172. View

Susser M . Widowhood: a situational life stress or a stressful life event?. Am J Public Health. 1981; 71(8):793-5. PMC: 1619996. DOI: 10.2105/ajph.71.8.793. View

Helsing K, Szklo M, Comstock G . Factors associated with mortality after widowhood. Am J Public Health. 1981; 71(8):802-9. PMC: 1619998. DOI: 10.2105/ajph.71.8.802. View

Helsing K, Comstock G, Szklo M . Causes of death in a widowed population. Am J Epidemiol. 1982; 116(3):524-32. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a113436. View

10.

Mellstrom D, Nilsson A, Oden A, Rundgren A, Svanborg A . Mortality among the widowed in Sweden. Scand J Soc Med. 1982; 10(2):33-41. DOI: 10.1177/140349488201000201. View

11.

Kiecolt-Glaser J, Fisher L, Ogrocki P, Stout J, SPEICHER C, Glaser R . Marital quality, marital disruption, and immune function. Psychosom Med. 1987; 49(1):13-34. DOI: 10.1097/00006842-198701000-00002. View

12.

Arnetz B, Wasserman J, Petrini B, Brenner S, Levi L, Eneroth P . Immune function in unemployed women. Psychosom Med. 1987; 49(1):3-12. DOI: 10.1097/00006842-198701000-00001. View

13.

Bowling A . Mortality after bereavement: a review of the literature on survival periods and factors affecting survival. Soc Sci Med. 1987; 24(2):117-24. DOI: 10.1016/0277-9536(87)90244-9. View

14.

Jones D . Heart disease mortality following widowhood: some results from the OPCS Longitudinal Study. Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. J Psychosom Res. 1987; 31(3):325-33. DOI: 10.1016/0022-3999(87)90052-3. View

15.

Kiecolt-Glaser J, Kennedy S, Malkoff S, Fisher L, SPEICHER C, Glaser R . Marital discord and immunity in males. Psychosom Med. 1988; 50(3):213-29. DOI: 10.1097/00006842-198805000-00001. View

16.

Thomas P, Goodwin J, Goodwin J . Effect of social support on stress-related changes in cholesterol level, uric acid level, and immune function in an elderly sample. Am J Psychiatry. 1985; 142(6):735-7. DOI: 10.1176/ajp.142.6.735. View