Research by Harvard and Pennsylvania
Universities find that for older people, the hospitalization of a
spouse can harm the well-being of a partner.

In the largest study ever to quantify
caregiver burden and the widower effect, researchers found for people
aged 65 and older, hospitalization of a spouse can not only harm the
well-being of his or her partner, but also significantly contribute to
that partner’s death.

Our
study shows that people are connected in such a fashion that the health
of one person is related to the health of another, reports Dr. Nicholas
Christakis, professor in the department of health care policy at
Harvard Medical School.

He and co-author Sociology Professor Paul Allison of the University of Pennsylvania said the study’s findings are striking.

When
a spouse is hospitalized, the partner’s risk of death increases
significantly and remains elevated for up to two years, Christakis
said. Stress and lack of social support may also adversely affect
immunologic measures, so spousal hospitalization may have physiological
effects on partners.

The study appears in the New England Journal of Medicine.