HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hart, C. L Articles by Lever, T. F Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hart, C. L Articles by Lever, T. F Related Collections Related Article

Effect of conjugal bereavement on mortality of the bereaved spouse in participants of the Renfrew/Paisley Study

¹ University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
² University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr C L Hart
Public Health and Health Policy, Division of Community Based Sciences, University of Glasgow, 1 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8RZ, UK; c.l.hart{at}udcf.gla.ac.uk

Objectives: To investigate how loss of a spouse affects mortality risk in the bereaved partner.

Design and setting: Prospective cohort study in Renfrew and Paisley in Scotland.

Participants: 4395 married couples aged 45–64 years when the study was carried out between 1972 and 1976.

Methods: The date of bereavement for the bereaved spouse was the date of death of his or her spouse. Bereavement could occur at any time during the follow-up period, so it was considered as a time-dependent exposure variable and the Cox proportional hazards model for time-dependent variables was used. The relative rate (RR) of mortality was calculated for bereaved versus non-bereaved spouses and adjusted for confounding variables.

Main outcome measures: Causes of death to 31 March 2004.

Results: Bereaved participants were at higher risk than non-bereaved participants of dying from any cause (RR 1.27; 95% CI 1.2 to 1.35). These risks remained but were attenuated after adjustment for confounding variables. There were raised RRs for bereaved participants dying of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, stroke, all cancer, lung cancer, smoking-related cancer, and accidents or violence. After adjustment for confounding variables, RRs remained higher for bereaved participants for all these causes except for mortality from lung cancer. There was no strong statistical evidence that the increased risks of death associated with bereavement changed with time after bereavement.

Conclusions: Conjugal bereavement, in addition to existing risk factors, is related to mortality risk for major causes of death.

Abbreviations: CHD, coronary heart disease; CVD, cardiovascular disease; FEV₁, forced expiratory volume in 1 s; ICD, International Classification of Diseases; MI, myocardial infarction

Related Article

In this issue

Carlos Alvarez-Dardet and John R Ashton
J. Epidemiol. Community Health 2007 61: 369. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]