WIDOWHOOD AND MORTALITY IN AN ARMENIAN CHURCH PARISH IN LEBANON1

Abstract

A nonconcurrent cohort study was conducted in Lebanon by using the parish records of an Armenian Apostolic Orthodox church. Included in the study were 1,529 married couples. The observation period extended from 1949-1980 with follow-up information available on 90% of the subjects based on a review of burial registers, parish census records, and neighborhood inquiries. Identified during the observation period were 152 widowers and 623 widows. Three analytic procedures were used to compare the mortality of widowed to married subjects: person-years, matched-pair, and life table analyses. The results showed an increased risk of mortality for widowed compared with married subjects, although this excess in risk was not overall statistically significant. Most important was the result that among widowers as opposed to widows the higher risk of mortality acted at approximately ages 66-75 years. The suggested hypotheses to explain this finding include changes in the network size as well as social support systems which act in a particular way in this culture for men at the age of retirement. The results of this initial study of a specific community in a Middle Eastern society parallel findings in studies of Western industrial societies; they also tend to give additional evidence for the association of increased risk when widowhood is accompanied by increased stress caused by other life changes such as retirement.