title: All-cause mortality among men whose cohabiting partner has been diagnosed with cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous studies suggest that spouses of cancer patients are at increased risk for several chronic diseases. We investigated mortality in relation to cancer morbidity in the stable female partner.
  
  
  METHODS
  We established a national retrospective cohort study of 1,422,131 men who had lived continuously with the same partner for at least 5 years and used Cox regression analysis to assess the association between experiencing cancer in a cohabiting partner and all-cause mortality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The risk for death was only slightly elevated among men whose partner had cancer than for men whose partner remained free of cancer (hazard ratio = 1.03; 95% confidence interval = 1.01-1.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although a cancer diagnosis in a spouse might be associated with considerable distress, our study indicates that the risk for death differs only slightly between men living with a partner with cancer and those living with a partner without cancer.
authors.affiliation: Survivorship, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Strandboulevarden, Copenhagen, Denmark. nakaya-thk@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakaya
authors.forename: Kumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saito-Nakaya
authors.forename: Pernille E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Bidstrup
authors.forename: Susanne O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Dalton
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Frederiksen
authors.forename: Hanne
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Würtzen
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Steding-Jessen
authors.forename: Yosuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Uchitomi
authors.forename: Morten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frisch
authors.forename: Christoffer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Johansen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality