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Marriage, bereavement and mortality: The role of health care utilization

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  • Simeonova, Emilia

Abstract

There is ample evidence that bereavement is associated with heightened mortality. Regardless of whether this strong association is truly causal, little is known about the factors contributing to it. This study begins to unpack the black box of the bereavement–mortality puzzle by investigating the extent to which heath behaviors and health care utilization patterns vary among chronically ill elderly males living with a spouse and those who are widowed, and by asking whether these differences contribute to the well-documented correlation between widowhood and health deterioration. In order to separate the effect of health care utilization from other potential channels it uses a unique dataset of doctor–patient encounters that allows in-depth analysis of the organization and effectiveness of medical care. Changes in health care utilization attributable to bereavement have a negative effect on survival but account for a small part of the overall negative effect of widowhood on longevity.

Suggested Citation

  • Simeonova, Emilia, 2013. "Marriage, bereavement and mortality: The role of health care utilization," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 33-50.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:32:y:2013:i:1:p:33-50
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2012.10.010
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. The economics of bereavement
      by Chris Sampson in The Academic Health Economists' Blog on 2013-06-20 10:59:52

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    Cited by:

    1. Miriam Marcén & Marina Morales, 2019. "Live together: does culture matter?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 671-713, June.
    2. Tseng, Fu-Min & Petrie, Dennis & Leon-Gonzalez, Roberto, 2017. "The impact of spousal bereavement on subjective wellbeing: Evidence from the Taiwanese elderly population," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 1-12.
    3. Herbert J A Rolden & David van Bodegom & Rudi G J Westendorp, 2014. "Changes in Health Care Expenditure after the Loss of a Spouse: Data on 6,487 Older Widows and Widowers in the Netherlands," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(12), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Kung, Claryn S.J., 2020. "Health in widowhood: The roles of social capital and economic resources," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    5. Fu‐Min Tseng & Dennis Petrie & Shaolin Wang & Colin Macduff & Audrey I. Stephen, 2018. "The impact of spousal bereavement on hospitalisations: Evidence from the Scottish Longitudinal Study," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 120-138, February.
    6. Bernhard Schmidpeter, 2015. "The Fatal Consequences of Grief," Economics working papers 2015-06, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    7. Sergei Koulayev & Emilia Simeonova & Niels Skipper, 2017. "Can Physicians Affect Patient Adherence With Medication?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(6), pages 779-794, June.
    8. repec:jku:cdlwps:2015_07 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Bernhard Schmidpeter, 2015. "The Fatal Consequences of Grief," CDL Aging, Health, Labor working papers 2015-07, The Christian Doppler (CD) Laboratory Aging, Health, and the Labor Market, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    10. Li, Qin & Smith, James P. & Zhao, Yaohui, 2023. "Understanding the effects of widowhood on health in China: Mechanisms and heterogeneity," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    11. Chunzhou Mu & Jane Hall, 2023. "Marital status and hospital use in older adults," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(2), pages 185-213, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Marriage; Health care; Bereavement; Adherence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics

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