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

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.