scholarly journals Excess mortality by individual and spousal education for recent and long-term widowed

Author(s):  
Olof Östergren ◽  
Stefan Fors ◽  
Johan Rehnberg

Abstract Objectives The loss of a spouse is followed by a dramatic but short-lived increase in the mortality risk of the survivor. Contrary to expectations, several studies have found this increase to be larger among those with high education. Having a spouse with high education is associated with lower mortality which suggests that losing a spouse with high education means the loss of a stronger protective factor than losing a spouse with low education. This may disproportionately affect the high educated because of educational homogamy. Methods We use Swedish total population registers to construct an open cohort of 1,842,487 married individuals aged 60 to 89 during 2007—2016, observing 239,276 transitions into widowhood and 277,946 deaths. We use Poisson regression to estimate relative and absolute mortality risks by own and spousal education among the married, recent, and long-term widows. Results We find an absolute increase in mortality risk, concentrated to the first six months of widowhood across all educational strata. The relative increase in mortality risk is larger in higher educational strata. Losing a spouse with high education is associated with higher excess mortality, which attenuates this difference. Discussion When considering the timing and the absolute level of excess mortality we find that the overall patterns of excess mortality are similar across educational strata. We argue that widowhood has a dramatic impact on health, regardless of education.

Head & Neck ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 32 (12) ◽  
pp. 1613-1618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc P. van der Schroeff ◽  
Saskia A. M. van de Schans ◽  
Jay F. Piccirillo ◽  
Ton P. M. Langeveld ◽  
Robert J. Baatenburg de Jong ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Greenwald ◽  
Nassib G Chamoun ◽  
Paul J Manberg ◽  
Josh Gray ◽  
David Clain ◽  
...  

AbstractWe estimated excess mortality in Medicare recipients with probable and confirmed Covid-19 infections in the general community and amongst residents of long-term care (LTC) facilities. We considered 28,389,098 Medicare and dual-eligible recipients from one year before February 29, 2020 through September 30, 2020, with mortality followed through November 30th, 2020. Probable and confirmed Covid-19 diagnoses, presumably mostly symptomatic, were determined from ICD-10 codes. We developed a Risk Stratification Index (RSI) mortality model which was applied prospectively to establish baseline mortality risk. Excess deaths attributable to Covid-19 were estimated by comparing actual-to-expected deaths based on historical comparisons and in closely matched cohorts with and without Covid-19. 677,100 (2.4%) beneficiaries had confirmed Covid-19 and 2,917,604 (10.3%) had probable Covid-19. 472,329 confirmed cases were community living and 204,771 were in LTC. Mortality following a probable or confirmed diagnosis in the community increased from an expected incidence of about 4% to actual incidence of 7.5%. In long-term care facilities, the corresponding increase was from 20.3% to 24.6%. The absolute increase was therefore similar at 3-4% in the community and in LTC residents. The percentage increase was far greater in the community (89%) than among patients in chronic care facilities (21%) who had higher baseline risk. The LTC population without probable or confirmed Covid-19 diagnoses experienced 38,932 excess deaths (35%) compared to historical estimates. Limitations in access to Covid-19 testing and disease under-reporting in LTC patients probably were important factors, although social isolation and disruption in usual care presumably also contributed. Remarkably, there were 31,360 fewer deaths than expected in community dwellers without probable or confirmed Covid-19 diagnoses, representing a 6% reduction. Disruptions to the healthcare system and avoided medical care were thus apparently offset by other factors, representing overall benefit. The Covid-19 pandemic had marked effects on mortality, but the effects were highly context-dependent.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Helmersson-Karlqvist ◽  
Miklos Lipcsey ◽  
Johan Ärnlöv ◽  
Max Bell ◽  
Bo Ravn ◽  
...  

AbstractDecreased glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is linked to poor survival. The predictive value of creatinine estimated GFR (eGFR) and cystatin C eGFR in critically ill patients may differ substantially, but has been less studied. This study compares long-term mortality risk prediction by eGFR using a creatinine equation (CKD-EPI), a cystatin C equation (CAPA) and a combined creatinine/cystatin C equation (CKD-EPI), in 22,488 patients treated in intensive care at three University Hospitals in Sweden, between 2004 and 2015. Patients were analysed for both creatinine and cystatin C on the same blood sample tube at admission, using accredited laboratory methods. During follow-up (median 5.1 years) 8401 (37%) patients died. Reduced eGFR was significantly associated with death by all eGFR-equations in Cox regression models. However, patients reclassified to a lower GFR-category by using the cystatin C-based equation, as compared to the creatinine-based equation, had significantly higher mortality risk compared to the referent patients not reclassified. The cystatin C equation increased C-statistics for death prediction (p < 0.001 vs. creatinine, p = 0.013 vs. combined equation). In conclusion, this data favours the sole cystatin C equation rather than the creatinine or combined equations when estimating GFR for risk prediction purposes in critically ill patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaro Salosensaari ◽  
Ville Laitinen ◽  
Aki S. Havulinna ◽  
Guillaume Meric ◽  
Susan Cheng ◽  
...  

AbstractThe collection of fecal material and developments in sequencing technologies have enabled standardised and non-invasive gut microbiome profiling. Microbiome composition from several large cohorts have been cross-sectionally linked to various lifestyle factors and diseases. In spite of these advances, prospective associations between microbiome composition and health have remained uncharacterised due to the lack of sufficiently large and representative population cohorts with comprehensive follow-up data. Here, we analyse the long-term association between gut microbiome variation and mortality in a well-phenotyped and representative population cohort from Finland (n = 7211). We report robust taxonomic and functional microbiome signatures related to the Enterobacteriaceae family that are associated with mortality risk during a 15-year follow-up. Our results extend previous cross-sectional studies, and help to establish the basis for examining long-term associations between human gut microbiome composition, incident outcomes, and general health status.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Han Ul Kim ◽  
Sung Pyo Park ◽  
Yong-Kyu Kim

AbstractThis study aimed to investigate whether long-term HbA1c variability is associated with the development and progression of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in subjects with type 2 diabetes. We retrospectively reviewed 434 type 2 diabetes subjects without DR who underwent regular DR screening. We reviewed fundus findings, collected HbA1c levels, and calculated the coefficient of variation (CV) and average real variability (ARV) of each subject’s HbA1c level. DR was developed in 55 subjects and progressed to moderate nonproliferative DR or worse DR in 23 subjects. On Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, HbA1c ARV, but not HbA1c CV, was significantly associated with DR development. However, the association between HbA1c variability and the DR progression rate to moderate nonproliferative DR or worse DR was not significant. The inter-visit HbA1c difference value on consecutive examination predicted DR development well and more careful screening for DR is needed for those with an absolute value change of 2.05%, an absolute increase of 1.75%, and an absolute decrease of 1.45% in HbA1c levels on consecutive examination. These results indicate that long-term glucose variability measured by HbA1c ARV might be an independent risk factor for DR development in addition to the mean HbA1c level in early diabetic subjects.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
B Zafrir ◽  
R Jaffe ◽  
H Sliman ◽  
O Barnett-Griness ◽  
W Saliba

Abstract Background Lymphopenia has been shown to be associated with adverse prognosis in chronic disease states that are related to immune dysregulation. Purpose We aimed to determine the association between lymphopenia and all-cause mortality in patients presenting to coronary angiography with or without acute coronary syndromes (ACS). We also investigated whether elevated red blood cell distribution width (RDW), an established cardiovascular prognostic marker, further refines risk stratification and improves predictive accuracy beyond lymphocytes count. Methods Retrospective cohort analysis of patients undergoing coronary angiography for evaluation or treatment of coronary artery disease between 2003 and 2018. Long-term mortality risk associated with relative (1000–1500 /μL) or severe (&lt;1000 /μL) lymphopenia was analyzed using Cox proportional hazards regression models, adjusting for comorbidities, ACS and RDW. Results Overall, 15179 patients underwent coronary angiography, at a mean age of 65±12 years. On cross-sectional analysis, lymphopenia was associated with kidney disease, cancer, heart failure and presentation with ACS, but lower rates of smoking and obesity. During a median follow-up of 7 (IQR 3.5–11.5) years, 4253 patients died. Compared to normal lymphocytes count (1500–5000 /μL), the multivariable adjusted hazard ratio (HR) (95% confidence interval) for mortality was 1.31 (1.21–1.41) and 1.97 (1.75–2.22) for relative and severe lymphopenia, respectively. The increase in mortality associated with severe lymphopenia was significant in patients presenting with non-ACS [HR 2.18 (1.74–2.73)], ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) [HR 1.59 (1.15–2.21)], or unstable angina/non-STEMI [HR 2.00 (1.70–2.34)]; p-for-interaction 0.626. The association of lymphopenia with mortality remained significant after additional adjustment to RDW. High RDW (&gt;14.5%) was associated with increased mortality risk in each of the lymphocytes count groups, and improved the predictive accuracy with AUC increase from 0.609 (0.601–0.616) to 0.646 (0.639–0.654) (p&lt;0.001). Conclusions Lymphopenia is associated with increased risk for long-term mortality in patients undergoing coronary angiography, regardless of coronary presentation. High RDW may enhance the predictive ability of lymphopenia. Lymphocyte count and mortality risk Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None


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