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Increased mortality found after hospitalization of a spouse
Hospitalization or death of a spouse significantly increase the risk of death of the other spouse, with women being at a higher risk reports the New England Journal of Medicine.
The nine-year study that involved more than 50,000 couples aged from 65 to 98 demonstrated that the death of a wife increases the risk of death of the husband by 53% over the next month; and, in case of the death of a husband, his wife's chances of dying within the next month increase by 61%. The percentage increase in case of a hospitalization is lower: 35% increase of the risk of death for a husband (in a month following a wife's hospitalization) and a 44% risk increase for a wife.