We investigate if there is a causal link between education and health knowledge using data from the 1984/85 and 1991/92 waves of the UK Health and Lifestyle Survey (HALS). Uniquely, the survey asks respondents what they think are the main causes of ten common health conditions, and we compare these answers to those given by medical professionals…

The purpose of this study was to analyze the attitudes of terminally ill patients toward death and dying. Four hospitals in Nigeria were randomly selected: University College Hospital, Ibadan; University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City; the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos; and Igbinedion Specialist Hospital, Okada, Benin City.…

Objective: To examine the amount, timing and causes/correlates of infant mortality among newborns with Down syndrome. Methods: Using the Tennessee Department of Health Birth, Hospital Discharge and Death records, infants were identified who were born with Down syndrome from 1990 to 2006. Those who died during the first year were separated into…

Suicides among U.S. Army soldiers are increasing and, in January 2009, outpaced deaths due to combat. For this study, 1,873 army suicides identified through death, inpatient, and emergency room records were matched with 5,619 controls. In multivariate models, older, male, White, single, and enlisted soldiers with a prior injury (OR = 2.04, 95% CI…

Using nationwide, 7-year population-based data for 1997-2003, we examined marital status to see if it predicted suicide among the ethnic Chinese population of Taiwan. Using cause of death data, with a case-control design, two groups--total adult suicide deaths, n = 17,850, the study group, and adult deaths other than suicide, n = 71,400 (randomly…

This research was undertaken to explore gender, religiosity, perceived time-left-to-live and the interactions between these variables as predictors of fear of death in 144 Atlantic Canadian students using the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale (MFODS). Predictions about cause, age, marital status, and place of death were also derived from the…

This article examines the relationship between a woman's childbearing history and her later health and mortality, with primary focus on whether the association between them is due to early and later socioeconomic status. Data are drawn from the Health and Retirement Study birth cohort of 1931-1941. Results indicate that, conditional on reaching…

Examined factors affecting belief in afterlife. Data from 1978 subfile on National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey showed that, controlling on frequency of church attendance and religious intensity, Protestants had highest incidence of belief in life after death, followed by Catholics, and then by Jews. Race, religion, and church…

Widows (N=78) and widowers (N=41) were interviewed 13-16 months after they were widowed. An eight-item self-report measure of adjustment-depression was developed. The married were significantly better adjusted than the widowed. Widowers were significantly better adjusted than widows. (Author)

Examined reactions of 38 older women to death of close friends. Sense of loss women felt resulted in development of new and closer relationships with other friends and relatives. Women's advice to others who had lost close friend was to remember friend, seek out new friendships, and be active. Found differences according to age, marital status,…

The incidence of twin births in the United States (US) has increased more than 65 per cent since 1980. However, the risk of injury to multiple-birth children is unknown. We sought to compare the risk of injury-related hospitalization and death between multiples and singletons. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using linked birth…

Black Americans face a paradox concerning death: although their involvement with death is intense, their knowledge of death, per se, comprehension of death related behaviors, and exposure to available life extending alternatives are minimal. An interview based questionnaire was distributed to 1,010 adults in a predominantly black section of…