Table 2. Association Between Widowhood and Function and Predicted Mortality for People With and Without Dementia, Cancer, and Organ Failure.
| Serious illness and widowhood status | Functiona | Mortalityb | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-event | Change at time 0 (95% CI) | Postevent | Estimated 1-y mortality, % | HR (95% CI) | |||||
| Function, mean (SD) | Slope (95% CI) | Slope (95% CI) | Function, mean (SD) | Among all groups | Among participants with illness | ||||
| Dementia | |||||||||
| No dementia with no widowhood | 10.7 (0.8) | −0.04 (−0.05 to −0.03) | NA | −0.04 (−0.05 to −0.36) | 10.8 (0.9) | 2.2 | 1 [Reference] | NA | |
| No dementia with widowhood | 10.8 (0.7) | −0.04 (−0.05 to −0.02) | 0.01 (−0.07 to 0.08) | −0.03 (−0.06 to −0.00) | 10.7 (0.9) | 2.4 | 1.09 (1.03 to 1.16) | NA | |
| Dementia with no widowhood | 6.6 (2.6) | −0.17 (−0.25 to −0.09) | NA | −0.17 (−0.25 to −0.09) | 6.3 (3.6) | 4.7 | 2.22 (2.02 to 2.43) | 1 [Reference] | |
| Dementia with widowhood | 7.1 (2.6) | −0.19 (−0.30 to 0.08) | −1.00 (−1.52 to −0.48) | −0.19 (−0.30 to −0.09) | 5.7 (3.1) | 5.4 | 2.53 (2.30 to 2.77) | 1.14 (1.02 to 1.27) | |
| Cancer | |||||||||
| No cancer with no widowhood | 10.4 (1.5) | −0.10 (−0.11 to −0.08) | NA | −0.10 (−0.11 to −0.08) | 10.1 (2.2) | 2.2 | 1 [Reference] | NA | |
| No cancer with widowhood | 10.7 (1.2) | −0.11 (−0.13 to −0.10) | −0.11 (−0.21 to −0.02) | −0.10 (−0.15 to −0.06) | 10.1 (1.9) | 2.4 | 1.08 (1.04 to 1.13) | NA | |
| Cancer with no widowhood | 7.3 (2.4) | −0.11 (−0.23 to −0.02) | NA | −0.11 (−0.23 to 0.02) | 7.8 (3.5) | 4.8 | 2.16 (1.82 to 2.56) | 1 [Reference] | |
| Cancer with widowhood | 7.2 (2.8) | −0.10 (−0.25 to −0.12) | −1.17 (−2.10 to −0.23) | 0.22 (−0.12 to 0.56) | 6.5 (3.0) | 7.0 | 3.19 (2.72 to 3.73) | 1.47 (1.18 to 1.85) | |
| Organ failure | |||||||||
| No organ failure with no widowhood | 10.5 (1.4) | −0.09 (−0.10 to −0.07) | NA | −0.09 (−0.10 to −0.07) | 10.2 (2.0) | 2.2 | 1 [Reference] | NA | |
| No organ failure with widowhood | 10.7 (1.1) | −0.11 (−0.12 to −0.09) | −0.13 (−0.23 to −0.03) | −0.09 (−0.13 to −0.05) | 10.1 (2.0) | 2.2 | 1.02 (0.98 to 1.06) | NA | |
| Organ failure with no widowhood | 6.8 (2.7) | −0.09 (−0.23 to 0.05) | NA | −0.09 (−0.23 to 0.05) | 6.6 (3.7) | 5.9 | 2.79 (2.41 to 3.23) | 1 [Reference] | |
| Organ failure with widowhood | 7.4 (2.6) | −0.10 (−0.28 to 0.08) | −0.84 (−1.69 to 0.00) | −0.07 (−0.24 to 0.38) | 6.4 (2.8) | 6.6 | 3.13 (2.72 to 3.61) | 1.12 (0.92 to 1.37) | |
a
Function is defined on a reverse-coded on a scale of 0 to 11 that is the sum of requiring assistance in 6 activities of daily living and 5 instrumental activities of daily living. Slope represents the change in function score per year. Function was modeled using linear spline model to estimate pre-event and postevent annual slopes up to 2 waves or 5 years before and after the actual or simulated event times with knots placed at time of event.
b
Mortality was modeled using Cox regression with censoring at 1 year if death did not occur.