Policy Science Unit, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
Department of Letters, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
Omega (Westport). 2021 May;83(1):142-156. doi: 10.1177/0030222821992193. Epub 2021 Feb 2.
Bereaved families may experience psychological and physical problems increasing their reliance on medical, pharmaceutical, and financial/legal services. Our Japan-wide survey (n = 1078) researched bereaved who showed increased reliance on medical, pharmaceutical, and financial/legal services. Increased use was most evident in the '50's age bracket, and for unemployed widows; it corresponded less with low annual income than with high income declining significantly after bereavement. Increased users showed higher psychological and physical symptoms of grief, and reported their decline in physical health seriously influencing their work and lives, suggesting "presenteeism"-reduced productivity for those continuing to work. Increased users spent 2.7 times more for medical and pharmaceutical services than those reporting continual use, portending 4 to 10 times more Japanese government expense for this group, half of whom considered their own out-of-pocket expenses a financial burden. These findings warrant further research on cost-effectiveness of interventions to reduce declining health of the bereaved.
丧亲家庭可能会经历心理和身体问题，增加他们对医疗、医药和财务/法律服务的依赖。我们对日本全国范围内的调查（n=1078）研究了那些表现出对医疗、医药和财务/法律服务依赖增加的丧亲者。这种使用的增加在 50 岁年龄段最为明显，而且对于失业的寡妇来说，与低收入相比，高收入在丧偶后显著下降与这种增加的使用更为相关。增加的使用者表现出更高的悲伤的心理和身体症状，并报告说他们身体健康的下降严重影响了他们的工作和生活，这表明“出勤主义”——那些继续工作的人的生产力降低。增加的使用者在医疗和医药服务上的花费是持续使用者的 2.7 倍，这预示着这个群体的日本政府支出增加了 4 到 10 倍，其中一半人认为自己的自费支出是一种经济负担。这些发现值得进一步研究干预措施的成本效益，以减少丧亲者健康状况的下降。
