Widowhood and Life Satisfaction Among Chinese Elderly Adults: The Influences of Lifestyles and Number of Children

Cai-yun, Yang; Sun, Xixi; Duan, Wenjie

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.754681

Cited by 11 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 63 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Widowed elderly individuals who have children were found to be more likely to show higher level of satisfaction with life. 3 A result from a nationwide cohort study showed that having children was associated with a longer survival after hip fracture. The authors suggested that adult children may support their ageing parents with hip fracture, thereby potentially increasing survival chances.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 27 , 28 This also implies that social and familiar support, especially their adult children, may be important to improve prognosis. 3 , 36 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2 In China, the number of the widowed older adults was estimated to be 47.7 million, which accounted for 26.9% of the older population. 3 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2 In China, the number of the widowed older adults was estimated to be 47.7 million, which accounted for 26.9% of the older population. 3 Widowhood is one of the most stressful life events that negatively influences the mental health of the older people, including loneliness, 4 anxiety, 5 depression 6 and cognition. 7 As a result, widowed people have poorer physical health and higher mortality than married people of the same age, a phenomenon known as the widowhood effect.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The Widowhood Effect on Mortality in Older Patients with Hip Fracture

Zhu¹,

Wang²,

Wu³

et al. 2022

IJGM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective Widowed people have increased mortality than married people of the same age, a phenomenon known as the widowhood effect. This study aimed to investigate whether this effect exists in older patients with hip fracture. Methods Using our own hip fracture database, a total of 1101 hip fracture patients were consecutively included from January 2014 to December 2021. Marital status was stratified as married (n = 793) and widowed (n = 308). Patients survival status was obtained from medical records or telephone follow-ups, and the outcomes were all-cause mortality at 30 days, 1 year and at latest follow-up. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess the association between marital status and mortality, and subgroup analyses according to sex were also conducted. Results Compared with married patients, widowed patients were more likely to be older, female and intertrochanteric fracture, and were less likely to be urban area, smoking, drinking, and surgical treatment ( P < 0.05). After a median follow-up of 37.1 months, the 30-day mortality was 4.3% (n = 47), 1-year mortality was 19.3% (n = 178), and total mortality was 34.2% (n = 376). Multivariate Cox analysis showed that widowed marital status remained an independent risk factor for 1-year mortality ( HR = 1.437, 95% CI : 1.054–1.959, P = 0.022), and total mortality ( HR = 1.296, 95% CI : 1.038–1.618, P = 0.022), whereas this association was not found in 30-day mortality ( HR = 1.200, 95% CI : 0.607–2.376, P = 0.599). Moreover, subgroup analyses also found that the widowhood effect on mortality was present in both male and female. Conclusion Widowed marital status seems to be an independent risk factor for long-term mortality in older patients with hip fracture.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 27 , 28 This also implies that social and familiar support, especially their adult children, may be important to improve prognosis. 3 , 36 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2 In China, the number of the widowed older adults was estimated to be 47.7 million, which accounted for 26.9% of the older population. 3 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The Widowhood Effect on Mortality in Older Patients with Hip Fracture

Zhu¹,

Wang²,

Wu³

et al. 2022

IJGM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The aim is to investigate and comprehensively evaluate the health status and related factors of the widowed elderly in China, so as to make targeted health promotion measures to reduce the negative impact of widowhood on the elderly and their families. According to previous research, the factors affecting the health of the widowed elderly can be roughly divided into natural attributes [15], lifestyle [16], social characteristics [17], socio-economic status [18], prevalence of disease [19] and psychological factors [20]. Thus, based on previous studies and the questionnaire of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey in 2018 (CLHLS-2018), the current study investigates the impact of 11 factors (hearing difficulties, sleeping, falling, life restriction, physical exercise, social activities, endurance insurance, type of elderly care, chronic diseases, life satisfaction and negative symptoms) on the health of the widowed elderly from the six aspects of lifestyle, socio-economic status, social characteristics, prevalence of disease and psychological factors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health of Widowed Elderly and Related Factors in China

Hua¹,

Chen²

2022

JOMH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background:The widowed elderly are in poor health, but studies mainly focus on their mental health, physiological response, chronic disease, or death. The aim of this study was to investigate the health of the widowed elderly and related factors in China from the three dimensions of self-reported health, objective physical health and mental health. Methods: Data were obtained from the Chinese Longitudinal Health Longevity Survey (CLHLS-2018). 3320 participants aged 65 years and older were selected, included 1573 widowed elderly and 1747 non-widowed elderly. A simplified version of the center for epidemiological research depression scale (CES-D-10) was used to assess depressive symptoms. The differences of depression and chronic diseases between widows and widowers were tested by independent sample t-test. A fully aligned polygonal graphical indexing method and binary logistic regression analysis were used to explore health and related factors of the widowed elderly. Results: Of the 1573 widowed elderly 70.88% were female, 59.19% were aged 80-99, 48.00% and 36.75% were from rural and urban areas respectively, and 92.05% lived with their families. Depressive symptoms were found in 20.15% of widowers and 49.33% of widows, and 60.26% of widowers and 64.75% of widows had more than one chronic disease. Statistically significant differences were found between widowers and widows in the above two. Self-reported health and mental health were slightly better than that of non-widowed elderly, with the exception of objective physical health. The variables of life restriction, physical exercise, life satisfaction and depressive symptoms were significant factors that influenced the widowed elderly health. Conclusions: Strengthening the monitoring and management of negative emotions and physiological functions of the widowed elderly, improving their awareness of physical and mental health and then promoting communication were found to be effective intervention measures.

show abstract