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THURSDAY, July 5, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Marital status may influence cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and prognosis after CVD, according to a review published online June 19 in Heart<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Chun Wai Wong, from the University of Keele in the United Kingdom, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to identify studies that evaluated the association between marital status and risk of CVD (coronary heart disease [CHD] or stroke incidence and mortality).<\/p>\n
The researchers identified 34 studies representing more than two million participants. Being unmarried (never married, divorced, or widowed) was associated with increased odds of CVD (odds ratio [OR], 1.42; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1 to 2.01), CHD (OR, 1.16; 95 percent CI, 1.04 to 1.28), CHD death (OR, 1.43; 95 percent CI, 1.28 to 1.6), and stroke death (OR, 1.55; 95 percent CI, 1.16 to 2.08), compared with married participants. For both men and women, being divorced was associated with increased odds of CHD, while widowers were more likely to experience a stroke. Compared with married participants, single men and women with myocardial infarction had increased mortality (OR, 1.42).<\/p>\n
“Marital status appears to influence CVD and prognosis after CVD,” the authors write. “Future research should focus around whether marital status is a surrogate marker for other adverse health behavior or cardiovascular risk profiles that underlies our reported findings, or whether marital status should be considered as a risk factor by itself.”<\/p>\n
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