 Association between widowhood and risk of diagnosis with a sexually transmitted infection in older adultsK.P. Smith and N.A. Christakis American Journal of Public Health, 2009, vol. 99, issue 11, 2055-2062 Abstract: Objectives. We assessed whether widowhood is associated with risk of diagnosis with a sexually transmitted infection (STI) among older adults in the United States and whether the associations observed in men differed before and after the introduction of sildenafil, the first oral erectile dysfunction medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Methods.We used Cox proportional hazards regression to analyze the time to first STI diagnosis in a random sample of married, Medicare-eligible couples aged 67 to 99 years in 1993 (N=420790 couples). Results. Twenty-one percent of male and 43% of female participants lost a spouse during the 9-year study period. Only 0.65% of men and 0.97% of women were diagnosed with an STI. Widowhood was associated with an increased risk of STI diagnosis for men only, with the largest effects found 0.5 to 1 year after a wife's death. Effects for men were larger after the introduction of sildenafil. Conclusions. Widowhood in older men, but not women, increased the risk for STIs, especially in the postsildenafil era. Clinicians should address sexual health issues with older patients, especially bereaved men taking erectile dysfunction medications. Date: 2009 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2009.160119_9 Access Statistics for this article American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association |
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