Taken from:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20060809/hl_hsn/stayingsinglemayshortenlifespan
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
Wed Aug 9, 7:02 PM ET
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Staying single all your life
may not be good for your health.
That's the conclusion of new research that shows that people who
never marry face an even greater chance of dying early than people
who have been divorced, separated or widowed. All of these groups
had shorter survival prospects than people who were currently
married.
The effect held true across all age groups, even younger ones, the
researchers noted.
"This seems to happen all the way along," said lead researcher
Robert Kaplan, professor and chair of the department of health
services at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of
Public Health.
His team published the findings in the September issue of the
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Previous research had found a connection between being married and
a longer life expectancy and, more specifically, between being
married and a lower incidence of heart disease. Marriage is
considered a rough proxy for "social connectedness," which experts
believe can help people live longer.
Most of these studies, however, haven't distinguished between
people who are separated, divorced or widowed and those who have
never been married.
"We're getting at never-married people," Kaplan said. "That hasn't
been looked at as much."
The authors argued that widowed and divorced people are more likely
to have children and are thus more likely to be socially connected.
Never-married people would not have these benefits.
To test their theory, the researchers looked at the 1997 U.S.
National Death Index and the 1989 National Health Interview
survey.
In 1989, almost half of the sample were married, almost 10 percent
were widowed, 12 percent were divorced, 3 percent were separated, 5
percent were living with someone, and 20 percent had never been
married.
The death rate for people who were unmarried, whether because of
divorce, separation or widowhood, was significantly higher than it
was for those married and still living with their spouses.
But among those not now married, the effect was strongest for those
who had never been married and was more pronounced among men than
among women.
Compared with currently married folk, people who had been widowed
were almost 40 percent more likely to die between 1989 and 1997,
while those who had been divorced or separated were 27 percent more
likely. Those who had never been married were 58 percent more
likely to have died than those who were married and
cohabitating.
The findings held true across all age groups, and with different
causes of death, not just heart disease, according to the
researchers. For those aged 19 to 44, the main causes of early
death among never-married adults were infectious diseases,
presumably HIV/ AIDS and other external causes. For the older
segment, the main causes were cardiovascular and other chronic
diseases.
According to the authors, the risks of being never married were
similar to the risks of having increased blood pressure or high
cholesterol.
It's not clear if there is a cause-and-effect relationship.
"We don't know if it's causal," Kaplan cautioned. It's possible
that never-married people suffer from poor health or engage in
risky behaviors, either of which could make them less likely to
marry, he said.
Additional research done since this study was completed has yielded
identical results, Kaplan added.
