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Spousal bereavement and its effects on later life physical and cognitive capability: the Tromsø study.

Authors :
Strand, Bjørn Heine
Håberg, Asta K.
Eyjólfsdóttir, Harpa Sif
Kok, Almar
Skirbekk, Vegard
Huxhold, Oliver
Løset, Gøril Kvamme
Lennartsson, Carin
Schirmer, Henrik
Herlofson, Katharina
Veenstra, Marijke
Source :
GeroScience; Dec2024, Vol. 46 Issue 6, p6055-6069, 15p
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

Spousal bereavement is associated with health declines and increased mortality risk, but its specific impact on physical and cognitive capabilities is less studied. A historical cohort study design was applied including married Tromsø study participants (N=5739) aged 50–70 years with baseline self-reported overall health and health-related factors and measured capability (grip strength, finger tapping, digit symbol coding, and short-term recall) at follow-up. Participants had data from Tromsø4 (1994–1995) and Tromsø5 (2001), or Tromsø6 (2007–2008) and Tromsø7 (2015–2016). Propensity score matching, adjusted for baseline confounders (and baseline capability in a subset), was used to investigate whether spousal bereavement was associated with poorer subsequent capability. Spousal bereavement occurred for 6.2% on average 3.7 years (SD 2.0) before the capability assessment. There were no significant bereavement effects on subsequent grip strength, immediate recall, or finger-tapping speed. Without adjustment for baseline digit symbol coding test performance, there was a negative significant effect on the digit symbol coding test (ATT −1.33; 95% confidence interval −2.57, −0.10), but when baseline digit symbol coding test performance was taken into account in a smaller subsample, using the same set of matching confounders, there was no longer any association (in the subsample ATT changed from −1.29 (95% CI −3.38, 0.80) to −0.04 (95% CI −1.83, 1.75). The results in our study suggest that spousal bereavement does not have long-term effects on the intrinsic capacity components physical or cognition capability to a notable degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
25092715
Volume :
46
Issue :
6
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
GeroScience
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
180403258
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-024-01150-y