MONDAY, Aug. 14 (HealthDay News) -- People who have never been married are more likely to have premature mortality compared with married people, with a nearly fivefold higher risk of dying from infection, according to a study in the September issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Robert M. Kaplan, Ph.D., from the University of California Los Angeles, and Richard G. Kronick, Ph.D., from the University of California San Diego, examined the association between marriage status and survival. They analyzed data from about 80,000 adults from the 1989 National Health Interview Survey and the 1997 national death index. In 1989, 47.7 percent were married, 9.9 percent widowed, 12.5 percent divorced, 3.5 percent separated, 5 percent living with a partner, and 21 percent had never been married.
Compared with married people, the mortality risk was 39 percent higher among the widowed, 27 percent higher among divorced or separated people, and 58 percent higher among those who never married. The risk linked to the never-married status was seen in both sexes but was higher for men. Never-marrieds were at greater risk of dying from cardiovascular causes (odds ratio, 1.38), infection (OR, 4.99), accidents, homicides or suicides (OR, 2.03), or other causes (OR, 1.75) compared with marrieds.
"Among the not-married categories, having never been married was the strongest predictor of premature mortality," Kaplan and Kronick conclude. Noting that "social isolation increases the risk of premature death" and that "marriage is a rough proxy for social connectedness," they suggest that having never been married may be associated with greater social isolation.
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