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Journal Article

Gender differences in the use of anti-infective medications before and after widowhood: a register-based study

MPS-Authors

Santacroce,  Adriana
Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Max Planck Society;

Höhn,  Andreas
Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Max Planck Society;

Oksuzyan,  Anna
Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Max Planck Society;

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Citation

Santacroce, A., Wastesson, J. W., Höhn, A., Christensen, K., & Oksuzyan, A. (2018). Gender differences in the use of anti-infective medications before and after widowhood: a register-based study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 72(6), 526-531.


Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0004-7C39-2
Abstract
<p>Background:&nbsp;Recent findings suggest that bereavement&nbsp;due to spousal loss is associated with a decline in&nbsp;general immune functions, and thus to increased&nbsp;susceptibility to infections among widowed individuals.&nbsp;The present study aims to investigate whether spousal&nbsp;loss weakens immune refences more among men than&nbsp;among women using a 5% random sample of the total&nbsp;Danish population, and anti-infective medication use as&nbsp;a proxy for immune response.
Methods:&nbsp;We followed 6076 Danish individuals (67%&nbsp;women) aged &ge;50 from 5 years before and up to 5 years&nbsp;after widowhood to examine changes in prescriptions of&nbsp;anti-infectives for systemic use.
Results:&nbsp;Women used more anti-infective drugs both&nbsp;before and after spousal loss (women: OR= 1.31; 95%&nbsp;CI 1.21 to 1.42). The age-related changes in the&nbsp;use of anti-infective medications in the period before&nbsp;widowhood were similar to that in the period after&nbsp;widowhood among both men and women. Also, age-related changes in the use of anti-infective medications&nbsp;were similar in both genders.
Conclusions: The present study shows that individuals&nbsp;are more likely to use anti-infective medication after&nbsp;being widowed than before being widowed, but this&nbsp;change is likely to be related to increasing age and it is&nbsp;similar in both genders.</p>