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Annals of Oncology Advance Access published online on July 24, 2009
Annals of Oncology, doi:10.1093/annonc/mdp313
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Health care-related predictors of husbands' preparedness for the death of a wife to cancer—a population-based follow-up

A. Hauksdóttir1,*, U. Valdimarsdóttir1,2,3, C. J. Fürst1,4, E. Onelöv1 and G. Steineck1,5

1 Division of Clinical Cancer Epidemiology, Department of Oncology–Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
2 Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
3 Center of Public Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland
4 Research and Development Unit, Stockholms Sjukhem Foundation, Mariebergsgatan, Stockholm, Sweden
5 Division of Clinical Cancer Epidemiology, Department of Oncology, Sahlgrenska Academy, Göteborg's University, Göteborg, Sweden

* Correspondence to: A. Hauksdóttir, B. A., Division of Clinical Cancer Epidemiology, Department of Oncology–Pathology, Karolinska Institutet Z5:U1, Karolinska Hospital, 17176 Stockholm, Sweden. Tel: +46-8-5177-5044; Fax: +46-8-5177-9621; E-mail: arna.hauksdottir{at}ki.se

Background: If we can learn how to increase preparedness before the death of a loved one, we can possibly decrease the next-of-kin's long-term morbidity.

Methods: In a population-based study, 691 of 907 (76%) men in Sweden who lost a wife to cancer 4–5 years earlier answered an anonymous questionnaire about their preparedness at the time of their wife's death as well as potential predictors for preparedness.

Results: A final logistic regression model indicates following predictors for preparedness, among others: the length of the widower's intellectual awareness time before his wife's death [relative risk (RR) 4.1, confidence interval (CI) 2.7–6.1], the widower could take in the information that his wife's disease could not be cured (RR 3.5, CI 2.3–5.2), the couple had arranged their economical affairs (RR 1.5, CI 1.3–1.7), the wife had stayed at a palliative care unit during her last months of life (RR 1.2, CI 1.1–1.4) and health care personnel supported the husband to participate in his wife's care (RR 1.6, CI 1.3–2.1).

Conclusions: We identified several care-related factors that may influence the preparedness of men before their wife's death to cancer. These factors can be considered in future intervention studies aiming at influencing preparedness before the death of a loved one.

bereavement, population based, predictors, preparedness, widowers

Received for publication February 18, 2009. Revision received May 11, 2009. Accepted for publication May 12, 2009.


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