Trajectories of cognitive decline by widowhood status among Korean older adults

Lyu, Jiyoung; Min, Joohong; Kim, Giyeon

doi:10.1002/gps.5168

Cited by 22 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Another study based on 17 years of follow-up data from 6766 elderly Americans found that there was a linear relationship between widowhood duration and decline in cognitive function [8]. Furthermore, a longitudinal research following 8 years in Korea found that widowed elderly individuals with widowhood duration of 4 to 6 years had a significantly steeper decline in cognitive function than nonwidowed elderly individuals [25]. Thus, it is necessary to take widowhood duration into consideration when examining the effect of widowhood on cognitive function.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Association between Widowhood and Cognitive Function among Chinese Elderly People: Do Gender and Widowhood Duration Make a Difference?

Xiang

Liu

et al. 2021

Healthcare

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Few studies have examined the effects of widowhood on cognitive function in Chinese elderly individuals. We conducted a longitudinal study to assess the association between widowhood and cognitive function and further explored gender differences in this association and the impact of widowhood duration. The analytical sample consisted of 5872 Chinese elderly people who participated in the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) and were followed up from 2005 to 2014. We used the Chinese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) to assess cognitive function. Widowhood duration was calculated from the self-reported year at which the spouse passed away. Multilevel growth models were employed to estimate the association between widowhood and cognitive function while adjusting for many demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Widowhood status was associated with cognitive decline among Chinese elderly individuals after adjusting for covariates (B = −0.440, 95% CI −0.727 to −0.152), and this association was only statistically significant among men (B = −0.722, 95% CI −1.104 to −0.339). Being widowed for 5 years or less (B = −0.606, 95% CI −1.112 to −0.100), 16–20 years (B = −0.937, 95% CI −1.685 to −0.190), and 21+ years (B = −1.401, 95% CI −1.967 to −0.834) predicted worse cognitive function in men, while being widowed for more than 21+ years (B = −0.655, 95% CI −1.186 to −0.124) was associated with cognitive decline in women. More attention should be directed towards widowed men and long-term widowed elderly individuals.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Association between Widowhood and Cognitive Function among Chinese Elderly People: Do Gender and Widowhood Duration Make a Difference?

Xiang

Liu

et al. 2021

Healthcare

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“…Hence, they have to remain a widow and alone (13).. According to the supporting role of spouses in marital life, it is expected that they can improve the quality of life of the elderly by providing spiritual rest, daily care, and prevention of accidents (7,14). However, the widow should learn to take new responsibilities and functions, and change plans, habits, conditions, and behaviors after the death of her life partner (8).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accordingly, coping with a spouse's death is di cult from multiple dimensions (9). The studies have revealed that widowhood can affect various dimensions such as physical, psychological dimensions, mortality, social interactions, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) (14)(15)(16)(17). Hence, supervision and analysis of quality of life among the elderly are important to identify the elderly with low quality of life.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, the ndings show that aging increases the risk of decreased social sources by itself (24). Thus, widowhood makes elderly people more vulnerable than before to reduce social participation; because every person loses one of the main sources of emotional, instrumental, and nancial support after losing a spouse (14,25) .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Relationships with family, friends, and neighbors can not only help the widow emotionally but also can be an instrument to meet non-emotional needs and to help daily affairs such as meals, transportation, and home repair (8). Besides, the studies have shown that the quality of relationships can affect mental and physical health, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and quality of life (8,13,14).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Relation Between Quality of Relationships and Quality of Life of Elderly Widows in Northeastern Iran

Pirzadeh

Nazari

Asadollahi

2021

Preprint

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Objectivewidowhood is one of the inevitable challenges of aging, which may affect the quality of life. If the widow is in a good relationship with relatives and friends, the possibility of exposition to the damage caused by widowhood is decreased. Hence, the present study has been conducted to determine the relationship between quality of relationships and quality of life of elderly widows in northeastern Iran.Materials & Methodsthe descriptive-analytical study in kind of cross-sectional design was done on 1456 widows in northeastern ran in 2021. The sampling in this study was done using proportional stratified random sampling. The data collection instrument included three questionnaires of demographic information, Quality of Relationships Inventory (QRI), and Elderly Quality of Life (QoL) Questionnaire (LIPAD). Data analysis was done using SPSS-25, and Amos-21.Results75.9% of elderly widows were suffering from types of chronic diseases. 82.7% of widows were illiterate. The results of this study showed that the quality of relationships can have a significant effect on the quality of life of elderly widows (effect size≥0.30). Conclusionas it is proved that social support is an underlying indicator in health-related quality of life, the negative effects of widowhood on the quality of life can be reduced by making supporting family and social relationships.

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Spousal bereavement and its effects on later life physical and cognitive capability: the Tromsø study

Strand,

Håberg,

Eyjólfsdóttir

et al. 2024

GeroScience

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Spousal bereavement is associated with health declines and increased mortality risk, but its specific impact on physical and cognitive capabilities is less studied. A historical cohort study design was applied including married Tromsø study participants (N=5739) aged 50–70 years with baseline self-reported overall health and health-related factors and measured capability (grip strength, finger tapping, digit symbol coding, and short-term recall) at follow-up. Participants had data from Tromsø4 (1994–1995) and Tromsø5 (2001), or Tromsø6 (2007–2008) and Tromsø7 (2015–2016). Propensity score matching, adjusted for baseline confounders (and baseline capability in a subset), was used to investigate whether spousal bereavement was associated with poorer subsequent capability. Spousal bereavement occurred for 6.2% on average 3.7 years (SD 2.0) before the capability assessment. There were no significant bereavement effects on subsequent grip strength, immediate recall, or finger-tapping speed. Without adjustment for baseline digit symbol coding test performance, there was a negative significant effect on the digit symbol coding test (ATT −1.33; 95% confidence interval −2.57, −0.10), but when baseline digit symbol coding test performance was taken into account in a smaller subsample, using the same set of matching confounders, there was no longer any association (in the subsample ATT changed from −1.29 (95% CI −3.38, 0.80) to −0.04 (95% CI −1.83, 1.75). The results in our study suggest that spousal bereavement does not have long-term effects on the intrinsic capacity components physical or cognition capability to a notable degree.

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Trajectories of cognitive decline by widowhood status among Korean older adults

Cited by 22 publications

References 43 publications

The Association between Widowhood and Cognitive Function among Chinese Elderly People: Do Gender and Widowhood Duration Make a Difference?

The Association between Widowhood and Cognitive Function among Chinese Elderly People: Do Gender and Widowhood Duration Make a Difference?

The Relation Between Quality of Relationships and Quality of Life of Elderly Widows in Northeastern Iran

Spousal bereavement and its effects on later life physical and cognitive capability: the Tromsø study

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