The Effect of Widowhood on Mortality when the Predecedent Spouse Died from Alcohol Related Death or Accidental and Violent Death

Previous studies have shown that bereavement is associated with increased mortality. However, the amount and nature of post bereavement mortality can be assumed to differ by various circumstances surrounding widowhood. One such factor is the cause of death of the predecedent partner. We used data from a population registration database at Statistics Finland with detailed sociodemographic information to examine the excess mortality among those bereaved by two specific groups of causes of death of a predecedent spouse (altogeter 43 100 bereavement persons of whom 7 858 died during the follow-up). The method includes Cox regression model and the results are presented as hazard ratios (HRs). Among the widowed men and women, mortality from external causes of death was 4.69 -fold when the predecedent spouse had died from alcohol related death and as high as 10.09 -fold when the cause of death of the predecedent spouse was accidental and violent. Mortality risks were especially large soon after the death of a spouse. Immediate stress and the grief of bereavement are thus some of the causal mechanism leading from the loss of spouse to mortality. Support to those widowed should be a priority. Especially vulnerable are those bereaved by alcohol related causes of death or accidents and violence and soon after the bereavement.