The Transition From Spousal Caregiver to Widowhood: Quantitative Findings of a Mixed-Methods Study.
Carla J Groh, Mitzi M Saunders
PMID 32362165WHAT IT FOUND
Older women who had cared for husbands with dementia showed no significant rural-urban differences in depression, physical health, or mental health over 12 months.
Rural women had higher depression scores and lower health scores, but these were not significant.
Key findings
01Rural and urban caregivers did not differ significantly in depression, mental health, or physical health scores over the study period.
02Mean depression scores were 13.5 rural versus 9.4 urban at baseline, 15.1 versus 6.7 at 6 months, and 12.1 versus 6.0 at 12 months, but the rural-urban difference was not statistically significant.
03Support groups were the most common community resource, but fewer women attended them at each later collection point.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was very small (9 rural and 13 urban women), so the study could easily miss real differences. Participants were English-speaking older women who had cared for husbands with dementia, and the sample had little racial or ethnic diversity. Women were enrolled 1 month to 3 years after their husband's death, so the study may have missed the highest-risk period soon after bereavement. The study did not test an intervention, so it cannot show that support groups, education, or nurse follow-up improve outcomes. Two rural participants did not report income.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health Common Fund and Office of Scientific Workforce Diversity under awards RL5GM118981, TL4GM118983, and 1UL1GM118982, administered by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the null rural-urban comparison as proof that rural widows have the same needs. With only 9 rural and 13 urban women, the study was too small to detect differences, and rural women had higher depression scores and lower health scores at every point.