According to a study published in the journal BMC Medicine from the University of Oxford, unmarried women have higher chances of dying from heart disease compared to married women, Medical News Today reported.

The research, led by Sarah Floud, conducted an analysis of more than 1.3 million women aged 50 and over who were recruited between 1996 and 2001 via the U.K.’s Million Women Study data base project. The participants were asked to complete a health survey at the baseline of the study and were re-evaluated three years after.

Among 734,626 women who were surveyed for hospital admissions and deaths due to heart disease, 30,747 developed heart disease within an average of 8.8 years after the initial survey. Also 2,148 died from the condition.

The results of the research were significant as other influencing factors including age, socioeconomic status and lifestyle were taken into account. It showed that married women had a 28 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease compared to those who were not married.

Married women may have had a faster response to symptoms of the condition and sought medical assistance as their partner could have encouraged them to do so, the researchers told MNT. The researchers added that emotional support from spouses can help people cope with the distress of having a cardiac event.

The research team emphasized that a study to investigate the link between marital status and heart disease should be further developed in order to overcome the limitations.

MNT released a study last year that suggested both married men and women are at lower risk of fatal and non-fatal heart attack, compared to those who are unmarried. On the other hand, another study showed that happily married couples are more likely to gain weight compared to married couples who are unhappy.

By Ha Ji-won, Intern reporter (jiwonha@heraldcorp.com)