Identifying obstacles to participation in a questionnaire survey on widowers' grief

Abstract

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to determine if Icelandic widowers might foresee obstacles to responding to a questionnaire on bereavement. Also, we sought to compare the proportion of men reporting obstacles in a telephone interview to the actual response rate in the questionnaire survey.MethodsThe study was part of a nation-wide survey of widowers who lost their wives in 1999, 2000, and 2001. This included all widowers born in Iceland 1924-1969 (aged 30-75 years) who were alive, and residing in Iceland at the time of the study. A telephone poll was conducted prior to sending out a questionnaire to determine if the widowers would be interested in responding, or if they could see obstacles, which could affect their willingness to respond to a subsequent questionnaire survey. The telephone poll was repeated five years later with a random sample of the original study base to determine if views initially expressed towards the questionnaire survey, had changed over time.ResultsOf the 357 eligible widowers, 11 had died prior to the first telephone interview, yielding a study population of 346 widowers. Of those, 296 (86%) were reachable and all of these (100%) were willing to participate in the telephone survey. Of them, 55% identified obstacles to participation in the questionnaire survey. Men under 60 years were less likely to identify obstacles. Years from loss (second through fourth years) were not associated with reporting obstacles to participation. The response rate in the epidemiological questionnaire survey following the telephone interview was 62% (216/346).Of those who did identify obstacles 23%, did not did not identify any particular obstacle, but 33% stated that "they felt bad" or that it would be "a painful experience" or that they felt "uncomfortable" talking about their grief. About 18% stated their grief was "a private matter"; 6% stated that they did not want to be "stuck with their grief"; 9% said that it was "too late" to talk about their grief or that they "wanted to look towards their future". Additionally, 11% stated "other reasons", including responses like: "it's too early to talk about it", and "I have started another relationship - don't want complications."ConclusionsThe willingness to participate in the telephone interview was high and indicates a strong interest in the subject. Also, exposure to the study appeared to increase willingness to participate, since many men who initially could see obstacles to participation, actually participated in the epidemiological questionnaire survey. However, approximately one third of the men who initially identified obstacles to participation remained negative toward participation throughout the study period.

Death talk: gender differences in talking about one’s own impending death

“…A recently published study from a nationwide population-based survey of Icelandic widowers reported similar indications of resistance to expressing emotional concerns. The study showed that, in spite of a strong interest in the subject, a majority of widowers identified emotional obstacles to participation in a questionnaire survey on bereavement [ 73 ]. Previous findings from a population-based study in Sweden demonstrated a significantly lower prevalence of “emotional isolation” in middle aged and elderly women [ 74 ] compared with men [ 32 ].…”

The psychometric properties of the Icelandic version of the Distress Thermometer and Problem List

“…The first is that the study is based on a convenience sample volunteering to participate. In addition, the sample consisted largely of women, both because of a high presentation of women with breast cancer in the clinics where data collection took place, and possibly also because men have been found to be somewhat reluctant to participate in similar questionnaire surveys [36]. Third, the cut‐off criterion used for both HADS and GHQ‐30 is based on non‐Icelandic samples [21, 24] although cut‐off scores for both GHQ‐30 [25] and HADS [37] have been supported in Icelandic studies.…”

Assessing survival in widowers, and controls -A nationwide, six- to nine-year follow-up

“…The present study was an extension of an epidemiological nation-wide study assessing widowers' psychological and physiological well-being and comparing them to a group of age-matched married men. Parts of that study have been previously published [ 32 ].…”

“…The present study is the first nationwide study of widowers' mortality in Iceland. It is an extension of a study on widowers assessing widowers' psychological and physiological well-being and comparing them with an age-matched control group of married men over a period of 6 to 9 years [ 32 ].…”