ArticleBMC public health2016
Marital status, widowhood duration, gender and health outcomes: a cross-sectional study among older adults in India.
Article in BMC public health, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 65 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
65 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 181 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between sociodemographic factors and mobility among older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC geriatrics · 2026Pooled it
- Gender differences in post-traumatic symptomatology among refugees: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Pooled it
- Spousal caregiving, widowhood, and cognition: A systematic review and a biopsychosocial framework for understanding the relationship between interpersonal losses and dementia risk in older adulthood.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Correlates of disability among primary care patients with common mental disorders and chronic medical conditions- a cross-sectional study from rural South India.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Trial
- Article
- Navigating stress: workplace resilience and mental health nursing in Egyptian psychiatric hospitals.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Prevalence of widowhood across states and union territories in India, 1993-2021: a repeated cross-sectional study.Journal of global health · 2026Article
- Cognitive impairment among widowed older adults in India: a decomposition analysis of gender gap.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Meta-analysis of the association between marital status and hypertension: evaluating the impact of age and gender.American journal of cardiovascular disease · 2026Review
- Associations between widowhood status/duration, depression, and cognitive function among community-dwelling Indians age 60 years or older: Exploration of sex and residential factors.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Article
- Cortical thickness and low-grade inflammation moderate the association between depressive symptoms and cognitive function in early widowhood: A preliminary study.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2025Article
- Widowhood disparities in nonaccidental mortality attributable to heat waves and ozone.Eco-Environment & Health · 2025Article
- Exploring the intersectional dynamics of co-morbidities and risk factors among the older population in India.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Article
- Widow and Widower Mortality in India: A Research Note.Demography · 2025Article
- Education and non-communicable diseases in India: an exploration of gendered heterogeneous relationships.International health · 2025Article
- Does widowhood affect social capital in old age: the case of India.Frontiers in sociology · 2025Article
- Sociodemographic determinants of mobility decline among community-dwelling older adults: findings from the Canadian longitudinal study on ageing.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Prevalence and influencing factors of chronic diseases among the elderly in Southwest China: A cross-sectional study based on community in urban and rural areas.Preventive medicine reports · 2024Article
- Cross-sectional evaluation of the multidimensional indicators of psychosocial functioning and its sociodemographic correlates among Indian adults: WHO SAGE Study (2007-2010).PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Predictors for the Level of Quality of Life Among Older Adults: Approaches to the Effect of Sociodemographic and Chronic Diseases.Journal of aging research · 2024Article
5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrevious research has demonstrated health benefits of marriage and the potential for worse outcomes during widowhood in some populations. However, few studies have assessed the relevance of widowhood and widowhood duration to a variety of health-related outcomes and chronic diseases among older adults in India, and even fewer have examined these relationships stratified by gender.
methodsUsing a cross-sectional representative sample of 9,615 adults aged 60 years or older from 7 states in diverse regions of India, we examine the relationship between widowhood and self-rated health, psychological distress, cognitive ability, and four chronic diseases before and after adjusting for demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, living with children, and rural-urban location for men and women, separately. We then assess these associations when widowhood accounts for duration.
resultsBeing widowed as opposed to married was associated with worse health outcomes for women after adjusting for other explanatory factors. Widowhood in general was not associated with any outcomes for men except for cognitive ability, though men who were widowed within 0-4 years were at greater risk for diabetes compared to married men. Moreover, recently widowed women and women who were widowed long-term were more likely to experience psychological distress, worse self-rated health, and hypertension, even after adjusting for other explanatory variables, whereas women widowed 5-9 years were not, compared to married women.
conclusionsGender, the duration of widowhood, and type of outcome are each relevant pieces of information when assessing the potential for widowhood to negatively impact health. Future research should explore how the mechanisms linking widowhood to health vary over the course of widowhood. Incorporating information about marital relationships into the design of intervention programs may help better target potential beneficiaries among older adults in India.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.