A new study has just highlighted that being single has an impact on the risk of dying of heart failure.
Health Insurance emphasizes that heart failure would affect “2.3% of the adult French population and 10% of people over 70”. Besides, 160,000 people are hospitalized every year in France and 70,000 die of heart failure. A recent study presented during the Heart Failure 2022 just pointed out that being single increases the risk of dying of heart failure.
A different risk of heart failure depending on one’s relationship status
By heart failure, professionals identify that the heart muscle can no longer fulfill its role of propelling blood through the body. As a result, the organs no longer have enough oxygen and nutrients to function properly.
Fabian Kerwagen, one of the authors of this new study, explains in particular that: “Social support helps people manage certain long-term situations (…) Spouses can help with medication compliance, encourage and help patients to adopt a healthier lifestyle, which can affect their longevity. In this study, single patients had fewer social interactions than married patients and lacked support to manage their heart failure. We wanted to know if these factors might also explain, in part, the link with survival”.
In order to reach this conclusion, the researchers came to study some 1,000 patients hospitalized between 2004 and 2007 for heart failure. In detail, 693 admitted to being married, 375 were single (195 widowed, 96 never married and 84 separated or divorced). To follow this pathology, they completed self-report questionnaires. The latter thus enabled the researchers to identify that single people had less social relations and less good support concerning the follow-up of their treatment compared to married people.
After ten years of follow-up, 679 of the participants died. The results thus show that people who are single had a greater risk of dying in connection with a cardiovascular pathology, and even all causes combined. Widowed people had the highest risk compared to married people.
Fabian Kerwagen concludes in particular by stating that “the link between the wedding and life expectancy shows the importance of social support for heart failure patients, a topic that has become even more relevant with social distancing during the pandemic.” As a result, he believes that “health professionals should consider asking patients for their marital status (…) and recommend heart failure support groups to fill these potential gaps”.
