Social Participation and Survival in Widowed Persons: Results of the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging

Yu-Han Hsiao · Meng‐Chih Lee · Chih‐Jung Yeh · Chi-Jung Tai · Shiuan‐Shinn Lee

11 citations0/0 files storedInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

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Health disparities and outcomes Aging, Health, and Disability Aging and Gerontology Research

Abstract

It has been considered that widowed persons have a higher risk of death. This study intended to explore whether social participation could improve this trend. A longitudinal study database was constructed to explore the trend of survival and its change with social participation in widowed persons. The Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging (TLSA), based on four consecutive waves of longitudinal follow-up data in 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011 was linked with the National Death Registry from 1999 through 2012. In total, there were 1417 widowed persons and 4500 nonwidowed persons included in this study, excluding divorced and never-married people. The survival trend analysis was carried out with social participation as the main predictive factor stratified for comparative analysis. Our results showed that the widowed were older than the nonwidowed, were female-dominant, had a lower education level, were more economically stressed, and were less likely to engage in regular exercise, and thus showed generally poorer health; for example, being more vulnerable to having chronic diseases, disability with the Activities of Daily Living (ADL), cognitive impairment with the Short Portable Mental State Questionnaire (SPMSQ), and depression with The Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D). The death risk of the widowed was significantly higher than that of the nonwidowed, but the death trend for those with social participation was significantly lower than that of their counterparts in both the widowed and nonwidowed. After matching with gender and age for widowed persons, the widowed with social participation had a significantly lower risk of death (adjusted hazard ratio (HR), 0.83; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.71-0.98) compared to the widowed without social participation. It was concluded that social participation can improve the death risk for the widowed, and it is worthily included in health promotion plans and social welfare services for widowed persons.

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References

2014Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research 1992Widowhood and Depression: Explaining Long-Term Gender Differences in Vulnerability 2021Socio-demographic factors associated with self-protecting behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic 2008The Effect of Widowhood on Mortality by the Causes of Death of Both Spouses 1985Social Networks and Social Support: An Overview of Research, Practice, and Policy Implications 2006Mood and anxiety disorders in widowhood: A systematic review 2009Changes in Social Participation and Volunteer Activity Among Recently Widowed Older Adults 2017Does Becoming A Volunteer Attenuate Loneliness Among Recently Widowed Older Adults?

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