It turns out that marriage is linked to a longer life according to government statistics in the United States
If you are married, you will live longer than singles, study says and surely some singles will be against this data, why how is it possible that such a thing is said.
It turns out that not only are married people living longer than single people, but the difference in longevity between the two groups is increasing, report health statistics from the United States government.
According to the data, the age-adjusted death rate of married people fell by 7 percent between 2010 and 2017, according to a new study by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), part of the Centers for Health and Safety. US Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
If you are married you will live longer than singles says study
"Not only is the rate of married people lower, it is declining more than any other group," said lead author Sally Curtin, a CDC statistician.
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Statistically, the death rate is the annual number of deaths per 100,000 people. It is adjusted so that a 26-year-old and an 80-year-old married or widowed or divorced are equivalent.
The new study reported that the death rate for people who had never been married fell by just 2 percent, while that for divorced people had not changed at all.
The least fortunate were widowers, whose death rate increased by 6 percent. They have the highest death rate of all categories, the researchers noted.
In 2017, married men had an age-adjusted death rate of 943 per 100,000, compared with 2,239 among widowers. The death rate was 1,735 per 100,000 among men who had always been single, and 1,773 among divorced men.
Married women had a death rate of 569 per 100,000, two and a half times lower than the rate of 1,482 among widows. The death rate was 1,096 among divorced women, and 1,166 among women who had never been married.
Part of the benefit of marriage could be explained by the fact that people in good health are more likely to marry, said Katherine Ornstein, associate professor of geriatrics and palliative medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the city of New York.
Once married, there are a variety of tangible and intangible benefits that can confer a health advantage, experts said.
Married people are more likely to have health insurance, Ornstein said, and therefore have better access to health care.
Being married also means that there is someone who cares for you and reinforces positive behaviors, noted Michael Rendall, director of the Maryland Population Research Center at the University of Maryland.
"Having someone by your side who is your spouse tends to encourage positive health behaviors: go to the doctor, eat better, get tested," he said.
This is particularly so among men; Previous studies have shown that they derive greater health benefits from marriage than women.
"Men tend to have fewer self-care skills than women," Rendall said.
Lastly, the companionship that marriage entails prevents the health problems associated with loneliness and isolation, Ornstein said.
"The social support and social involvement that comes with being married is an immense benefit for mental and physical health," he said.
All of those benefits also explain why people who have been widowed tend to fare so badly after the death of their spouse, Ornstein said.
Widowers and widowers have to cope with pain, loneliness and financial stress, he noted. They no longer have a partner to take care of them, so they are more likely to neglect their health.
The study found some sex differences in trends.
Although the death rate for married men and women fell equally, by 7 percent, the overall death rate for women was much lower.
But death rates among men with all other marital statuses remained essentially the same between 2010 and 2017, the researchers found.
On the other hand, the death rate of women who had been widowed increased by 5 percent, while the rate of women who had never married decreased by 3 percent, and remained stable among divorced women.