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Healthcare services and medication use among widowed partners of patients deceased due to cancer ‐ results from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe ( SHARE )
Author(s) -
Costa Ana Rute,
Alves Luís,
Lunet Nuno
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
psycho‐oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.41
H-Index - 137
eISSN - 1099-1611
pISSN - 1057-9249
DOI - 10.1002/pon.5400
Subject(s) - depression (economics) , odds ratio , gerontology , logistic regression , medicine , health and retirement study , odds , confidence interval , demography , cancer , anxiety , psychiatry , sociology , economics , macroeconomics
Objective This study aimed to quantify the effect of a cancer death on healthcare and medication use among widowed individuals ( Widowed‐Cancer) , by comparing this population with partnered individuals and with widowed individuals whose partners were deceased due to cardiovascular diseases ( Widowed‐CVD) . Methods Data were retrieved from the Sixth Wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe ‐ SHARE, conducted in 2015, in 18 countries. Widowed‐Cancer were matched by country, sex, age and educational level with currently partnered individuals (1:2; n = 901 and n = 1802, respectively) and with Widowed‐CVD (1:1; n = 606 and n = 606, respectively). Adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were computed using logistic regression. Results The use of drugs for sleep problems (OR = 1.42, 95%CI:1.12‐1.80) and anxiety or depression (OR = 1.56, 95%CI:1.20‐2.03) was more common among Widowed‐Cancer than in partnered individuals; a tendency towards higher odds of being hospitalised in the previous year was also observed in Widowed‐Cancer (OR = 1.20, 95%CI:0.98‐1.47). Among participants whose partners were deceased in 2015, Widowed‐Cancer were more likely than Widowed‐CVD to report ≥10 contacts with medical doctors or nurses in the previous year (OR = 3.32, 95%CI:1.20‐9.24; P for interaction = .042) and a higher use of drugs for sleep problems (OR = 14.43, 95%CI:1.74‐119.84; P for interaction = .027) .Conclusion Widowed individuals whose partners were deceased due to cancer had a higher use of healthcare, which highlights the importance of improving the quality of end‐of‐life care, even during widowhood.

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