|
New studies show that men are more likely to leave their partners who are terminally ill than women. The study focuses on the role that gender plays in partner abandonment.
According to the study, a woman is six times more likely to be faced with separation or divorce following the diagnosis of dreaded diseases such cancer or mutiple sclerosis than if it was the male partner who was diagnosed with it. According to the studies, people who are married longer also seem more resilient to "partner abandonment".
Marc Chamberlain, M.D., one of the authors of the study and director of the neuro-oncology program at the SCCA (Seattle Cancer Care Alliance) said, "Female gender was the strongest predictor of separation or divorce in each of the patient groups we studied."
The study coincides with the details of an earlier research made on the divorce rate among cancer patients. The divorce rate was pegged at 11.6%, but 20.8% of these were cases where the patient was female. On the other hand, divorces where the patient was male only accounted for 2.9% of the figure.
The authors of the study also said that the reason men are more likely to abandon their sick spouses can be explained by the fact that they are less likely to commit to the role of caregivers to their sick partners. Women, on the other hand are more likely to assume the role and take on the burdens of maintaining the home.
In the study, the development of 515 subject patients were followed for five years between 2001 and 2006. Almost half the patients were women, with 214 patients who were diagnosed with primary brain tumor, 193 patients with solid tumor (no central nervous system involvement, and 108 patients who have multiple sclerosis.
A stronger gender disparity for divorce was discovered for female patients; with 93% belonging to the group in general oncology, and 96% from those with multiple sclerosis.
The study also found connections between the rate of divorce and separation and the age and length of the marriage. According to the results of the study, older women were more likely to be left by their partners.
According to the studies, women who were abandoned by their partners were less likely to participate in clinical trials, they were more prone to repeated hospitalization, and were more likely to take antidepressants. Divorced and separated patients were also less likely to complete radiation therapy.
The title of the study is "Gender Disparity in the Rate of Partner Abandonment in Patients with Serious Medical Illness", and was authored by Marc Chamberlain, M.D. (Seattle Cancer Care Alliance), co-authored by Michael Glanz, M.D. (Huntsman Cancer Institute). |
Subscribe
