Table 1. Baseline Characteristics of Participants After Matchinga .
| Variable | Participants by serious illness and widowhood status, No. (%) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dementia (n = 4114) | Cancer (n = 5516) | Organ failure (n = 5600) | ||||||||||
| No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | |||||||
| No widow (n = 1738) | Widow (n = 1)738 | No widow (n = 319) | Widow (n = 319) | No widow (n = 2673) | Widow (n = 2673) | No widow (n = 85) | Widow (n = 85) | No widow (n = 2705) | Widow (n = 2705) | No widow (n = 95) | Widow (n = 95) | |
| Age, mean (SD), y | 74.4 (6) | 75.8 (6) | 80.1 (7) | 82.8 (7) | 75.9 (7) | 77.4 (7) | 78.9 (7) | 81.6 (7) | 76.2 (7) | 77.7 (7) | 77.5 (7) | 79.3 (7) |
| Gender | ||||||||||||
| Male | 558 (32.1) | 558 (32.1) | 103 (32.3) | 103 (32.3) | 841 (31.5) | 841 (31.5) | 32 (37.6) | 32 (37.6) | 850 (31.4) | 850 (31.4) | 34 (35.8) | 34 (35.8) |
| Female | 1180 (67.9) | 1180 (67.9) | 216 (67.7) | 216 (67.7) | 1832 (68.5) | 1832 (68.5) | 53 (62.4) | 53 (62.4) | 1855 (68.6) | 1855 (68.6) | 61 (64.2) | 61 (64.2) |
| Race and ethnicityb | ||||||||||||
| Hispanic | 22 (1.3) | 17 (1.0) | 11 (3.4) | 5 (1.6) | 32 (1.2) | 31 (1.2) | 3 (3.5) | 2 (2.4) | 33 (1.2) | 33 (1.2) | 0 (0) | 2 (2.1) |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 156 (9.0) | 158 (9.1) | 51 (16) | 44 (13.8) | 232 (8.7) | 274 (10.3) | 14 (16.5) | 11 (12.9) | 239 (8.8) | 278 (10.3) | 21 (22.1) | 11 (11.6) |
| Non-Hispanic White | 1422 (81.8) | 1425 (82.0) | 215 (67.4) | 235 (73.7) | 1832 (80.1) | 1832 (80.2) | 64 (75.3) | 67 (78.8) | 1855 (80.4) | 1855 (80.3) | 65 (68.4) | 61 (64.2) |
| High school or GED education | 745 (42.9) | 740 (42.6) | 182 (57.1) | 182 (57.1) | 1212 (45.3) | 1210 (45.3) | 39 (45.9) | 38 (44.7) | 1206 (44.6) | 1201 (44.4) | 54 (56.8) | 55 (57.9) |
| Smoking | 120 (6.9) | 168 (9.7) | 15 (5.0) | 15 (4.7) | 185 (6.9) | 228 (8.5) | 4 (4.7) | 6 (7.1) | 163 (6.0) | 187 (6.9) | 12 (12.6) | 16 (16.8) |
| Comorbidities, mean (SD), No.c | 0.87 (0.91) | 0.88 (0.93) | 1.38 (1.01) | 1.43 (1.09) | 0.75 (0.85) | 0.75 (0.86) | 2.09 (0.86) | 2.24 (0.95) | 0.76 (0.84) | 0.77 (0.85) | 2.03 (0.84) | 2.19 (1.10) |
| Dependent for ADL/IADLs, mean (SD) | 0.26 (0.92) | 0.27 (0.91) | 4.18 (3.01) | 4.33 (3.16) | 0.58 (1.69) | 0.60 (1.72) | 3.46 (2.58) | 3.60 (3.03) | 0.49 (1.56) | 0.57 (1.71) | 3.82 (2.80) | 3.61 (2.78) |
Abbreviations: ADL, activities of daily living; GED, general equivalency diploma; IADL, instrumental activities of daily living.
Participants with a widowhood event were matched to those without the event by first calculating propensity scores with the covariates age, gender, illness status (eg, dementia status for the dementia cohort), number of comorbidities, and education level and then using propensity score matching, with exact matching required for gender, study wave, and illness status. For the widowhood event group, the date of the event was set as time 0. For those who did not have a widowhood event, we calculated a simulated event time based on the interval start date and the matched case event time.
Due to small sample sizes, other racial and ethnic categories are not reported.
Comorbidities included heart disease, lung disease, stroke, cancer, arthritis, and diabetes.