Widowhood and cognition among older women in India: New insights on widowhood duration and mediators.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Widowhood, a marital status that disproportionately affects older women, has been associated with poorer health compared to married individuals. However, relatively little is known about the association between widowhood in later-life and cognitive health in low- and middle-income countries.

Methods

To address this research gap, we used data from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (2017-19) to investigate the widowhood disparity in cognitive health among mid-aged and older women in India, including how this relationship varies by the duration of widowhood. We further examined the extent to which economic, social, and health conditions mediate this association.

Results

Cognition scores for widowed women were on average lower by almost 0.1 standard deviati

SUBMITTER: Jain U 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9525895 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature