Older Men With Living Spouses Versus Men Without Spouses: An Example From the Arab World—Kuwait

Abstract

<jats:p> This research is concentrated on elderly Kuwait men and the effect that losing wife, a major determinant of social support, has on their general health. A sample of 472 older male adults aged 60 years and older have been included in this study. A questionnaire was the major tool of the study. The questionnaire included sociocultural information and social support scales (Degree of Religiosity, Social Support Scale, Frequency of Contact, and Strength of Relation scales). Health measurements also were used: two, one-item self-reported health scales in the current year and last year and a Somatic Symptoms Inventory (SSI) were used. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure and glucose levels were taken. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, version 21) was used for data entry and analysis. t-test and regression were the major statistical procedures. Data show that there are differences between elderly men with a living wife compared to those without a living wife. Having a living wife was positively associated with better social support and health in Kuwaiti elderly men. Data show that a living wife is an important factor of men’s health and well-being in general and that a wife is one of the major social support elements of elderly men. </jats:p>

Individual measures of social support may have limited impact on physiological parameters among elderly Kuwaitis

“…Respondents indicated their degree of religiosity using an 11-point scale from not religious (0) to very religious (10). This self-rated religiosity scale has temporal stability and has been previously validated (Abdel-Khalek, 2007), and has been used in our past research (Al-Kandari, 2011, 2020Al-Kandari & Crews, 2014a, 2016. We divided these scores into low (0-5) and high (6-10) religiosity.…”

“…We divided these scores into low (0-5) and high (6-10) religiosity. Finally, we used a 12-question Social Support Scale (Zimet et al, 1988) with some modifications to better fit the culture of elderly Kuwaitis (Al-Kandari, 2011, 2020Al-Kandari & Crews, 2014a, 2016. Example questions include "Is there a special person who is around when she/he is in need?," "Is there a special person with whom she/he can share joys and sorrows?," "Does her/his family really try to help her/him?," and "Does she/he get the emotional help and support needed from her/his family?"…”