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The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access published online on October 20, 2009
The European Journal of Public Health, doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckp166
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Short Report

The impact of widowhood on Irish mortality due to suicide and accidents

Paul Corcoran1,2

1 National Suicide Research Foundation, 1 Perrott Avenue, College Road, Cork, Ireland
2 Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Oviedo, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Julian Claveria 6, 33006 Oviedo, Spain

Correspondence: Paul Corcoran, National Suicide Research Foundation, 1 Perrott Avenue, College Road, Cork, Ireland, tel: +353 21 4277499, fax: +353 21 4277545, e-mail: dpaulcorcoran{at}gmail.com

Received July 3, 2009 , accepted September 18, 2009

The impact of widowhood on suicide and accident mortality in Ireland was investigated using Poisson regression analysis applied to routine data relating to all 10 561 suicidal and accidental deaths of married or widowed persons aged at least 35 years in Ireland during 1986–2005. Mortality rates were almost always higher among the widowed and often by a 2-fold, statistically significant difference. The excess mortality was equivalent to 2083 or 57.6% of all suicidal or accidental deaths of widowed persons in 1986–2005. Routine contact with recently widowed persons by public health professionals may be warranted with a view to reducing their excess mortality.

Keywords: widowhood, mortality, suicide, accidents


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