The emotional toll of spousal morbidity and mortality.
OBJECTIVE
Spouse caregivers have an increased risk of mental and physical illness during caregiving and widowhood. The authors sought to evaluate whether partners of an ill spouse have a higher likelihood of developing mental health or substance abuse (MHSA) disorders than partners who have healthy spouses, accounting for both spousal illness and death.


METHODS
The authors used Medicare claims from 1993-2001 for 474,228 married couples. The authors used Cox models to determine the effect of spouse illness on partner MHSA diagnosis, controlling for demographic and clinical characteristics.


RESULTS
A wife's hospitalization increased the husband's risk of MHSA diagnosis by 1.29 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.28-1.29) and his risk of depression by 1.49 (95% CI: 1.48-1.51). A husband's hospitalization increased the risk of a wife's MHSA diagnosis by 1.33 (95% CI: 1.32-1.33) and her risk of depression by 1.41 (95% CI: 1.39-1.42). A wife's death increased the risk of the husband's MHSA diagnosis by 1.12 (95% CI: 1.11-1.13) and increased his risk of depression by 1.49 (95% CI: 1.46-1.51). A husband's death increased the risk of the wife's MHSA diagnosis by 1.14 (95% CI: 1.14-1.15) and increased her risk of depression by 1.41 (95% CI: 1.39-1.42).


CONCLUSIONS
Spouse hospitalizations and spouse death independently increase the risk for partner MHSA and depression diagnoses. These findings can identify which individuals are at greatest risk for emotional distress and should be targeted for interventions to relieve caregiver burden that can arise separately and additively from both spousal illness and death.
Zivin
Kara
K
Veterans Affairs, Health Services Research and Development, Serious Mental Illness Treatment Research and Evaluation Center, Ann Arbor, MI 48113-0170, USA. kzivin@umich.edu
Christakis
Nicholas A
NA
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001601:Bereavement; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D012803:Sick Role; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States