DEATH AFTER WIDOW(ER)HOOD - AN ANALYSIS OF MORTALITY-RATES UP TO 13 YEARS AFTER BEREAVEMENT

The mortality rates of a national random sample of 503 elderly people who were widowed in 1979 were analyzed. Over the thirteen and a quarte r year period analyzed, 62 percent of the sample had died. Although ea rlier analyses had indicated excess mortality in the first six months of bereavement for men aged 75+, there were no further significant exc ess mortality rates over the thirteen and a quarter year period analyz ed. The data were analyzed by fitting Cox's proportional hazard regres sion model to the widowed's survival time for factors predicting survi val time. The best fitting model for males and females indicated that risk of mortality at each period was associated with older age, male s ex, and poorer functional ability (measured in 1979). Frequency of tel ephone contacts as a risk factor for survival period was only signific ant for the younger widowed.