ABSTRACT
Spouse-bereaved subjects who had participated in earlier bereavement studies volunteered to allow investigation of their health up to eleven years after the death of their spouse. Re-enrolled controls were also studied over a similar period. Short-term morbidity after bereavement has been researched at intervals since the 1950’s. These reports have generally included non-specific complaints. For the data analysis, morbidity level was assessed by using a derived illness score. Calculating morbidity rates as the number of illnesses incurred during the time of the study ignores the duration of the illness(es) and hence neglects an entire dimension to morbidity. Only five bereaved and six control subjects had died. The small number of deaths precluded a formal analysis of mortality rates. Morbidity results presented in this part pertain to both physical and psychiatric morbidity. Differences were found between bereaved and non-bereaved subjects for their distribution of occupational, financial and medication-related variables.
