Sex Differences in Medication and Primary Healthcare Use before and after Spousal Bereavement at Older Ages in Denmark: Nationwide Register Study of over 6000 Bereavements
Table 2
Average daily defined dose of all-cause and system-specific medications dispensed within 1 year before and 1 year after widowhood.
ATC
Age
Before
After
Difference§
Men
Women
Men
Women
Men
Women
Mean
SE
Mean
SE
Mean
SE
Mean
SE
Mean
SE
Mean
SE
All-cause
60–69
1.52
0.11
1.69
0.08
1.90
0.18
1.99
0.09
0.38
0.12
0.30
0.04
70–79
1.98†
0.09
2.46
0.07
2.51‡
0.11
2.92
0.11
0.54
0.07
0.46
0.09
80+
2.59
0.13
2.70
0.09
3.52
0.23
3.16
0.09
0.92*
0.18
0.46
0.06
ATC-C
60–69
0.67
0.07
0.59
0.05
0.84
0.12
0.70
0.06
0.17
0.09
0.11
0.02
70–79
0.82†
0.05
0.95
0.04
1.08
0.07
1.11
0.05
0.25
0.05
0.15
0.03
80+
1.09
0.07
1.11
0.05
1.48
0.15
1.24
0.06
0.39*
0.12
0.13
0.03
ATC-N
60–69
0.26†
0.03
0.40
0.02
0.34‡
0.04
0.52
0.03
0.08
0.02
0.13
0.01
70–79
0.32†
0.02
0.55
0.02
0.43‡
0.03
0.70
0.03
0.12
0.02
0.15
0.02
80+
0.44†
0.03
0.65
0.03
0.59‡
0.04
0.77
0.03
0.15
0.03
0.12
0.02
ATC-R
60–69
0.22
0.04
0.17
0.02
0.26
0.05
0.19
0.02
0.04
0.03
0.01
0.01
70–79
0.21
0.03
0.21
0.02
0.25
0.03
0.24
0.02
0.04
0.01
0.02
0.01
80+
0.17†
0.02
0.10
0.01
0.20‡
0.02
0.12
0.01
0.02
0.01
0.02
0.01
ATC-A
60–69
0.12
0.02
0.15
0.01
0.15
0.02
0.17
0.01
0.03
0.02
0.02
0.01
70–79
0.18
0.02
0.21
0.01
0.23
0.02
0.27
0.03
0.04
0.01
0.06
0.03
80+
0.27
0.03
0.29
0.02
0.41
0.04
0.36
0.02
0.14*
0.03
0.07
0.01
ATC: Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification system; ATC-C: cardiovascular system; ATC-N: nervous system; ACT-R: respiratory system; ATC-A: alimentary tract and metabolism medications; DDD: daily defined dose.
*
P value < 0.05 for sex differences in the change of medication use before and after widowhood as obtained by two-sided t-test. †P value < 0.05 for sex difference in the average DDD before widowhood as obtained by two-sided t-test. ‡P value < 0.05 for sex difference in the average DDD after widowhood as obtained by two-sided t-test. §Difference = average DDD after, average DDD before.
