Apart from the well-known risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD) such as age, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking and diabetes mellitus, several studies report that marital status is also a risk factor of CVD. A random metanalysis which included 34 studies with more than two million participants. When compared with married participants, unmarried participants which include never married, divorced or widowed were associated with elevated odds of CVD (OR 1.42; 95% CI 1.00 to 2.01), coronary heart disease (OR 1.16,95% CI 1.04 to 1.28), coronary heart disease-death (OR 1.43,95% CI 1.28 to 1.60) and stroke death (OR 1.55,95% 1.16 to 2.08).
Divorced men and women were associated with increased coronary heart disease (P<0.001), singles with myocardial infarction had elevated mortality (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.76). In summary, the beneficial impact of marriage on CV health and…
