Secondary morbidity among the recently bereaved.
Discussions of the health consequences of bereavement have appeared with increasing frequency in the literature in recent years. Capitalizing on one of the largest samples of bereaved subjects to date, the authors analyzed National Hospice Study bereavement interview data regarding the rate of medical care use and short-term secondary morbidity. Results suggest that physician visit rates were somewhat higher but hospitalization rates lower among the recently bereaved than age- and sex-adjusted national norms. Multivariate analyses revealed that previous health problems and having been married to the deceased were consistently the strongest predictors of morbidity and health care use.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006304:Health Status; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D008875:Middle Aged; D009017:Morbidity; D009819:Office Visits; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014481:United States