Widowers Have More Trouble with Daily Activities

Daily activities pose more trouble for older, widowed men, suggest the results of a study reported in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (March 2004). Research involving 736 men in Finland, the Netherlands, and Italy found that widowers were more apt to have trouble preparing meals for themselves and taking care of the house, compared with married men. The researchers observed that the risk of this type of disability was greater in men who had been widowed for <5 years, compared with men who had been widowed longer.

Furthermore, the study showed that widowers were more likely to have problems with mobility (ie, walking outdoors and going up and down stairs).Yet, widowers were not at greater risk for having problems walking indoors, getting in and out of bed, going to the bathroom, and feeding themselves.