In Sickness, Marriage May Not Boost Health

Marriage is good for the health, but it isn’t so beneficial “in sickness,” new research finds.

Previous studies have consistently found that people who are married report better health[1] than people who aren’t. But marriage may not do much to help people who are seriously ill, the study finds. On top of that, married people overestimate how healthy they are.

“The married dont seem to report their health as being poor until they’ve already developed much more severe health problems,” study researcher Hui Zheng, a sociologist at Ohio State University, said in a statement. “They have a different threshold for what they consider to be bad health compared to unmarried people.”

Healthy marriages?

Zheng and his colleagues analyzed data from 789,000 people who took the National Health Interview Survey from 1986 to 2004. The U.S. Census Bureau runs the survey, which has been ongoing since 1957.

One survey question asked respondents to rate their own health as either excellent, very good, good, fair or poor. This self-report has been shown to be a very accurate portrayal of a person’s physical health, and in some cases, Zheng said, can be a better predictor as to whether someone will die in the short term than a doctor’s diagnosis.

The researchers examined how this self-reported health assessment related to marital status and mortality risk over a three-year period. [6 Scientific Tips for a Successful Marriage[2]]

They found that, in general, married people[3] were less likely to die within three years than people in all other categories, including those who were never married, divorced, widowed or separated. Someone who has never been married who self-rates his or her health as “excellent” is twice as likely to die within three years as a married person in excellent health, for example. (These findings took into account demographics such as age.)

In sickness

But there was some nuance to the health question. The poorer a person’s health at the study’s start, the less their marital status mattered in mortality risk.

For never-married people, each decrease in health from “excellent” to “very good” and down was linked to a 12-percent decrease in the short-term risk of death compared with married people in the same category. In the “poor” health category, there was no mortality difference between married and unmarried people.

“These results suggest that marriage may be important for the prevention of disease[4], but not as helpful once people become seriously ill,” Zheng said. “That’s why we see a protective effect of marriage when people are in excellent health, but not when they are in poor health.”

The researchers found the same results when they used a different, objective measure of health, the ability to handle routine activities of daily living such as bathing and cooking.

Married people don’t rate their health as poor until they’ve developed more severe health problems than unmarried people, the researchers found. So someone who is married and says they’re in poor health may actually be worse off than a singleton in poor health. The difference could help explain why the benefit of marriage[5] seems to vanish in the poor-health category.

Social support received from a spouse may make it less obvious to a person that their health is deteriorating, Zheng said. But the end result is still premature death.

“Marriage is helpful in persuading people to adopt a healthy lifestyle that can lead to a longer life,” Zheng said. “But it is not as useful in helping people recover from a serious illness.”

The researchers report their results in the March issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Follow Stephanie Pappas @sipappas. Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience, Facebook[8] or Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.[10][6][7][9]

Copyright 2013 LiveScience[11], a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

References

1. ^ report better health (www.livescience.com)
2. ^ 6 Scientific Tips for a Successful Marriage (www.livescience.com)
3. ^ married people (www.livescience.com)
4. ^ prevention of disease (www.livescience.com)
5. ^ benefit of marriage (www.livescience.com)
6. ^ @sipappas (twitter.com)
7. ^ @livescience (twitter.com)
8. ^ Facebook (www.facebook.com)
9. ^ Google+ (plus.google.com)
10. ^ LiveScience.com. (www.livescience.com)
11. ^ LiveScience (www.livescience.com)

Original Story Here

Resources:

Sole Source TIPS Cuticle Conditioner – Liquid Filled Cotton Swabs (Misc.) tagged “health tips” 8 times

Mon, 7 Jun 2010 04:18:28 GMT Sole Source TIPS Cuticle Conditioner – Liquid Filled Cotton Swabs (Misc.)By Sole Source Click for more info Customer tags: cuticle care(8), health(8), cuticle(8), cuticle conditioner(8), health tips(8), beauty tips(8), beauty favorites(8), b003o1x4yq http://www.amazon.com/Sole-Source-TIPS-Cuticle-Conditioner/dp/B003NSETFI/ref=tag_rso_rs_edpp_url?ie=UTF8&creative=381421&tag=thedays-20

Healthy Living (Fit to 100: Secrets to Health and Longevity) (Kindle Edition) tagged “health tips” 8 times

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 19:22:02 GMT Healthy Living (Fit to 100: Secrets to Health and Longevity) (Kindle Edition)By C.D. Shelton Buy new: $0.99 Customer Rating: Customer tags: long life(8), healthy living(8), health tips(8), live long(8), health and wellness(7), longevity(7), live longer(7), healthy lifestyle(7), health(7), health and fitness(7), healthy aging(7) http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Living-Fit-100-ebook/dp/B007DCBIQ8/ref=tag_rso_rs_edpp_url?ie=UTF8&creative=381421&tag=thedays-20

Two Health Tips to Start the Day – The Rush Limbaugh Show

RUSH: Two health tips… If you're not 44 yet and you're smoking, have at it… Have only 500 calories a day for two days a week (but not days in a row), and the other five days go to town and enjoy yourself. http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2013/02/22/two_health_tips_to_start_the_day

Free health tips for expectant mothers available via text … – WSYR 9

The State Department of Health has rolled out a new program offering free health advice to expectant mothers via text message. http://www.9wsyr.com/content/family_healthcast/story/Free-health-tips-for-expectant-mothers-available/m9qTrf6X5km1UxDwlUFpsQ.cspx

Big Book of Health Tips: All Family Members

2013-02-28T04:48:45.000Z $5.00 (0 Bids)
End Date: Wednesday Mar-6-2013 20:48:45 PST
Bid now | Add to watch list

The Miracle of Apple Cider Vinegar: Practical Tips for Health, Home, & Beauty…

2013-03-01T19:54:36.000Z $2.99
End Date: Friday Mar-8-2013 11:54:36 PST
Buy It Now for only: $2.99
Buy It Now | Add to watch list