Widowed Respondents Research Articles

Prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in Polish population - national health interview survey.

The aim was to evaluate the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in Polish population. The national health interview survey was based on entire non-institutionalized Polish population by means of randomized, stratified (urban and rural census tracks) two-stage method (over 39 000 respondents). Prevalence of psychiatric morbidity was based on General Health Questionnaire-12. Psychiatric morbidity was noted in almost 1/4 of women and 1/5 of men in Poland, with small differences between urban and rural population. Every 10th woman reported such complaints at the age up to 25 years and every second above 75 years of age. Divorced and widowed respondents, irrespective of gender, have psychiatric disorders more frequently than compared groups. Higher prevalence of psychiatric morbidity was noted in out of work and especially disabled persons. The higher the level of education, the lower the frequency of psychiatric morbidity was observed. Presented survey enabled to evaluate prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in Polish representative sample. Findings should trigger more extended epidemiological studies. The requirement for epidemiological investigations increases in reform-awaiting health care system in Poland, for at least one reason that the improvement of the quality of services is closely associated with a detailed recognition of the problem.

How income and education contribute to risk factors for cardiovascular disease in the elderly in a former Communist country

Objectives. Careful examination of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) may enable clinicians to develop a reasonably preventive programme among the elderly. The main purpose of this paper was to examine the effects of income and education on CVD risk factors in an elderly population who had lived most of their lives in Communist times. Methods. The CINDI (Countrywide Integrated Non-communicable Diseases Intervention) Programme questionnaire was used to collect data from an elderly (65+ years) population in Lodz, a large industrial city in Poland. The study population ( n=1461) was selected at random, and the overall response rate was 57.1%. The following risk factors were evaluated: hypertension, obesity, elevated cholesterol, elevated blood sugar and smoking. Results. Hypertension was the most frequently observed CVD risk factor (83.4% of participants) followed by hypercholesterolaemia (70.2%), obesity (30.5%), diabetes (18.4%) and smoking (8.5%). Hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia were related to age (OR=0.91, 95%CI: 0.88–0.95 and OR=0.95, 95%CI: 0.92–0.98, respectively). The younger people in the study population exhibited the highest prevalence of hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia; hypercholesterolaemia was observed more frequently among widowed respondents. Obesity and diabetes were associated with education level (OR=0.52, 95%CI: 0.34–0.79 and OR=0.60, 95%CI: 0.37–0.97, respectively). Younger single males with a lower level of education and income exhibited the highest prevalence of smoking. Multivariate analysis showed that age, education and gender were the best predictors for the cumulative risk factors of CVD. Conclusions. Education is more strongly associated with CVD risk factors than material status in the elderly. The best predictors of risk factors were age, sex and education. As we gain knowledge about CVD risk factors, we may be able to target preventive services in the elderly population more accurately and effectively, and help older adults make health decisions to reduce risk factors and increase their quality of life.

Adult Israeli Community Norms for the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI)

The study aim is to establish Israeli norms for the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). A nationwide representative sample of 510 community respondents (age range 35–65, 51.4% women) completed the Hebrew version of the BSI. The data showed high internal reliabilities for the 9 BSI scales, as well as for their total score, indicated by the General Severity Index (GSI). Higher levels of GSI were found for widowed, divorced, and single respondents than for married respondents. Higher GSI was also found for unemployed and retired men than the self-employed and employees, validating the GSI as a measure of distress. Most importantly, the scores of the Israeli GSI, as well as each of the 9 scales, were higher than those reported in either the U.S. or the British norms. These findings may indicate that Israeli society is experiencing relatively high distress, highlighting the need for establishing BSI norms for each culture.

Non-response and related factors in a nation-wide health survey.

To analyse selective factors associated with an unexpectedly low response rate. The baseline questionnaire survey of a large prospective follow-up study on the psychosocial health of the Finnish working-aged randomly chosen population resulted in 21,101 responses (40.0%) in 1998. The non-respondent analysis used demographic and health-related population characteristics from the official statistics and behavioural, physical and mental health-related outcome differences between early and late respondents to predict possible non-response bias. Reasons for non-response, indicated by missing responses of late respondents, and factors affecting the giving of consent were also analysed. The probability of not responding was greater for men, older age groups, those with less education, divorced and widowed respondents, and respondents on disability pension. The physical health-related differences between the respondents and the general population were small and could be explained by differences in definitions. The late respondents smoked and used more psychopharmaceutical drugs than the early ones, suggesting similar features in non-respondents. The sensitive issues had a small effect on the response rate. The consent to use a medical register-based follow-up was obtained from 94.5% of the early and 90.9% of the late respondents (odds ratio: 1.70; 95% confidence interval: 1.49-1.93). Consent was more likely among respondents reporting current smoking, heavy alcohol use, panic disorder or use of tranquillisers. The main reasons for non-response may be the predisposing sociodemographic and behavioural factors, the length and sensitive nature of the questionnaire to some extent, and a suspicion of written consent and a connection being made between the individual and the registers mentioned on the consent form.

Kinship versus Friendship

The qualities of daughter versus same-sex friend relationships were described by 151 married and widowed elderly women. The relation of these qualities to life satisfaction was assessed. Relationship qualities predicted life satisfaction in widowed women but not in married women. Significant predictors of life satisfaction for widows included the emotional support of daughters, the instrumental support of friends and friendship strength. In a comparison of the relationship qualities, both married and widowed respondents described daughters as providing more stimulation, ego support and utility than friends. Respondents also reported that relationships with daughters were stronger than those with friends. Married women described relationships with both daughters and friends as more stimulating than widowed women. The value of assessing qualitative indices compared to quantitative indices of later life relationships is discussed.

Predictors of Loss Management and Well-Being in Later Life Widowhood and Divorce

The purpose of this study was to identify factors that seem substantially to affect the management of loss and subjective well-being of older divorced and widowed individuals. Data were obtained from 219 adults, ages 50-69 years, who were divorced or widowed within two years of interview. Stepwise regression analyses indicated that self-reported personal health was the major predictor of management of loss and well-being for both divorced and widowed respondents with positive ratings of health consistently indicating more satisfactory outcomes. For widowed respondents, time since death of the spouse emerged as a strong predictor in six of the seven criterion measures of loss and well-being. For divorced respondents, time since divorce was not a significant predictor of management of loss and well-being, but divorced women reported more feelings of helplessness/avoidance and anger/guilt/confusion than men.

Widowhood, Health, and Friendship Support in Later Life

Widowhood has been widely recognized as one of the most stressful events in the life course of married persons. This study utilizes panel data from a national sample of the low-income aged to examine the effect of this form of role loss on the health and friendship support of older people. The use of a structural equation model reveals that those recently widowed negatively changed the evaluation of their health to a greater extent than those widowed for longer periods of time. The analysis of change in friendship support among the respondents indicates that those widowed between one and four years are more likely to increase their involvement in friendship than people widowed between measurements or those widowed more than four years. A multi-group LISREL analysis of the married and widowed respondents is used to examine if the causal processes affecting health and friendship support differ for married and widowed older adults. The findings emphasize the importance of considering the temporal dynamics of adjustment to stressful life events andfavor a compensation model of role loss and social integration.