|
 Unmarried men were 27 percent more likely to die of their tumors,
and single women were 19 percent more likely, the study found.
Married people generally had better health insurance and lived in
better neighborhoods, but single patients still fared worse even
after accounting for these financial reasons for the marriage
advantage.
“It seems that the major contributing factor is greater social
support, and less social isolation, among married patients,” said
study leader Scarlett Lin Gomez of the University of California, San
Diego.
“Having a strong support system can have meaningful impacts on the
odds of survival after a cancer diagnosis,” Lin added by email.
The research team studied nearly 783,000 patients diagnosed with
cancer in California from 2000 through 2009, including about 387,000
who had died by 2012.
They focused on patients with invasive malignancies and their 10
most common causes of cancer deaths.
Once researchers adjusted for insurance status and neighborhood
socioeconomic status, unmarried men were 22 percent more likely to
die than their peers who had tied the knot, and single women were 15
percent more likely to die.
At the start of the study, 70 percent of the men and 51 percent of
the women were married, and nearly all patients had some type of
health insurance.
Unmarried patients were more likely to be black, live in low-income
neighborhoods, be uninsured or have government insurance, be
diagnosed at a later stage of disease, and not receive any surgery
or radiation.
Uninsured men and women had about 25 percent higher odds of death
than people with private health insurance.
The findings don’t prove single life causes death from cancer,
however. It’s also possible that certain characteristics that lead
people to marry, such as being physically or emotionally healthier
than people who don’t find mates, might influence patients’ survival
odds, the authors note in the journal Cancer.
The results also don’t make cancer death a foregone conclusion for
single people, study coauthor Maria Elena Martinez of the University
of California, San Diego added by email.
[to top of second column] |
“Single patients should take advantage of their support networks,
even if they do not necessarily have spouses or children to turn to
during a cancer diagnosis,” Martinez said. “This is particularly
important for male patients.”
That’s because research suggests that men benefit more socially from
marriage, said Catherine Powers-James, a psychology researcher at
the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
“Although both men and women may think they are being a burden on
others when they ask for help, women are more inclined to reach out
to others for emotional support and for assistance,” Powers-James,
who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.
Single patients who don’t have close friends might consider seeking
professional help from a therapist, Powers-James added.
Not all marriages are the same, or equally strong in times of
crisis. But the findings suggest it’s worth investigating what
aspects of these long-term relationships may be most responsible for
better survival odds, since money clearly isn’t the only thing in
play.
“To the extent that the U.S. will be seeing a greater number of
cancer patients and survivors due to the aging of our population,
coupled with a rising proportion of unmarried individuals, we can
look further into the possible ways that being married translates
into improved cancer survival so that we can use the information to
help all patients,” Martinez said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1TN8eso Cancer, published online April 11,
2016.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
