Franziska Förster1, Alexander Pabst2, Janine Stein2, Susanne Röhr2, Margrit Löbner2, Kathrin Heser3, Lisa Miebach4, Anne Stark5, André Hajek6, Birgitt Wiese7, Wolfgang Maier4, Matthias C Angermeyer8, Martin Scherer5, Michael Wagner4, Hans-Helmut König6, Steffi G Riedel-Heller2. 1. Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health (ISAP), University of Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address: Franziska.Foerster@medizin.uni-leipzig.de. 2. Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health (ISAP), University of Leipzig, Germany. 3. Department for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Geriatric Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany. 4. Department for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Geriatric Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany; DZNE, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Bonn, Germany. 5. Institute of Primary Medical Care, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. 6. Department of Health Economics and Health Services Research, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. 7. Institute of General Practice, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany. 8. Center for Public Mental Health, Gösing am Wagram, Austria; Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Old age is accompanied by a higher risk of losing a spouse. This study aims to longitudinally investigate the effect of widowhood on depression severity with a special focus on sex differences. We examine depression before and after widowhood in men and women separately to investigate which sex is at greater risk after losing a spouse. METHODS: Data came from the AgeDifferent.de platform, which includes three pooled old age cohort studies. In order to examine factors associated with depression over time, we applied a linear hybrid mixed-effects regression model for the overall sample and analysed additional separate models for men and women. RESULTS: Of 2470 respondents (mean age at baseline 79.2 (SD 3.64) years), 1256 were men. In total, 209 men and 332 women experienced spousal bereavement after baseline. In general, both sexes showed higher depression severity after widowhood. However, there were significant sex differences. Widowed men were more prone to subsequent depression than widowed women. In terms of depression severity, widowed men differed significantly compared to non-widowed men; however, this was not the case for women. LIMITATION: We harmonized three cohort studies which used different measurement scales for depression and different recruitment procedures. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that although both genders suffer from losing a spouse, men are more prone to subsequently develop depressive symptoms. Raising the awareness among practitioners for sex-specific differences as well as developing tailored interventions for both widowed men and women should be considered.
BACKGROUND: Old age is accompanied by a higher risk of losing a spouse. This study aims to longitudinally investigate the effect of widowhood on depression severity with a special focus on sex differences. We examine depression before and after widowhood in men and women separately to investigate which sex is at greater risk after losing a spouse. METHODS: Data came from the AgeDifferent.de platform, which includes three pooled old age cohort studies. In order to examine factors associated with depression over time, we applied a linear hybrid mixed-effects regression model for the overall sample and analysed additional separate models for men and women. RESULTS: Of 2470 respondents (mean age at baseline 79.2 (SD 3.64) years), 1256 were men. In total, 209 men and 332 women experienced spousal bereavement after baseline. In general, both sexes showed higher depression severity after widowhood. However, there were significant sex differences. Widowed men were more prone to subsequent depression than widowed women. In terms of depression severity, widowed men differed significantly compared to non-widowed men; however, this was not the case for women. LIMITATION: We harmonized three cohort studies which used different measurement scales for depression and different recruitment procedures. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that although both genders suffer from losing a spouse, men are more prone to subsequently develop depressive symptoms. Raising the awareness among practitioners for sex-specific differences as well as developing tailored interventions for both widowed men and women should be considered.
Authors: Elżbieta W Buczak-Stec; André Hajek; Alexander Pabst; Christian Brettschneider; Hendrik van den Bussche; Birgitt Wiese; Siegfried Weyerer; Jochen Werle; Andreas Hoell; Michael Pentzek; Angela Fuchs; Melanie Luppa; Margit Löbner; Janine Stein; Franziska Förster; Dagmar Weeg; Edelgard Mösch; Kathrin Heser; Martin Scherer; Wolfgang Maier; Matthias C Angermeyer; Michael Wagner; Steffi G Riedel-Heller; Hans-Helmut König Journal: Front Med (Lausanne) Date: 2022-09-02
Authors: Franziska Förster; Melanie Luppa; Alexander Pabst; Kathrin Heser; Luca Kleineidam; Angela Fuchs; Michael Pentzek; Hanna Kaduszkiewicz; Carolin van der Leeden; André Hajek; Hans-Helmut König; Anke Oey; Birgitt Wiese; Edelgard Mösch; Dagmar Weeg; Siegfried Weyerer; Jochen Werle; Wolfgang Maier; Martin Scherer; Michael Wagner; Steffi G Riedel-Heller Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-06-29 Impact factor: 3.390