BACKGROUND Sexual activity in elderly people is a topic of growing interest but the relationships of sexual activity, libido and widowhood to mortality have been barely investigated. METHODS A total of 2,453 subjects enrolled from a nationwide survey on health status of residents aged 65 years or older in Taiwan between 1989 and 1991 were followed up until 31 December 2003 for ascertaining ca...

Abstract Literature to date has long indicated that marital relationships serve as one of the most important sources health and well-being across adulthood. Despite well-documented link between status health, however, studies have examined strict within-person linkages martial transitions subsequent are limited . Drawing from strength vulnerability integration theory life course perspective, we...

Increased mortality following the death of a spouse (the "widowhood effect") may be due to (1) causation, (2) bias from spousal similarity (homogamy), or (3) bias from shared environmental exposures. This article proposes new tests for bias in the widowhood effect by examining husbands, wives, and ex-wives in a longitudinal sample of over 1 million elderly Americans. If the death of an ex-wife ...

Two samples of patients aged over 70 years were selected, one sample from a large urban general practice and one from a randomized rural general practice. Patients were interviewed in order to assess their mental, physical and social well-being. Included in the interview were questions on subjective feelings of loneliness.More patients in the urban practice than in the rural practice reported f...

Women comprise a larger proportion of the ageing population than men, often outlive their spouses, and face a variety of challenges upon widowhood. Discrete aspects of the health impact of widowhood have been described in the literature; however, the expanse of sociocontextual issues that impact on older women's adjustment is less prominent. We undertook a literature review to synthesize recent...

Friendship is an intrinsic aspect of living across generations. However, the significance friendship for silver generation has received limited attention from gerontological studies in India. Considering that widowhood accompanied by loneliness, bereavement and stigma, I am interested to understand implications elderly women what extent potential countering negotiating with ageing widowhood. Th...