Never married, divorced and widowed persons may be susceptible to developing heart disease, stroke and associated risks of death compared to married ones.
In an analysis which included 34 studies with more than two million participants (comprising various countries including Russia, Denmark, Spain, USA, Sweden, UK, Canada, Israel, Gulf States, Japan, Finland, Greece, Turkey, Norway and China between 1963 and 2015.), married participants were compared with the unmarried (never married, divorced or widowed) participants.
The researchers, Chun Wai Wong and his colleagues searched MEDLINE and Embase from 2000 onwards using OVID SP with no date or language restriction (the search was last updated in January 2018). Two reviewers (CWW and CSK) screened all titles and abstracts retrieved from the search for studies independently that met the inclusion criteria.
The result of the study shows that the divorced, widowed or never married individuals were 42% more likely to develop heart disease compared to individuals living in spousal union and 16% more likely to have stroke.
The risk of dying was likewise elevated for the non-married by 42% from heart attacks and 55% from stroke.
The results were nearly the same for men and women, except for stroke, men were more vulnerable than women.
Please bear in mind that the study is not based on a controlled experiment, therefore, there is no clear conclusion drawn as to cause-and –effect.
Cardio Vascular Diseases are the number one cause of death globally: more people die annually from CVDs than from any other cause.