Search Here

The number of health screenings men get can be highly dependent on their marital status, a new government study found. Based on the survey answers, the researchers reported that married men were more likely to get medical checkups and health screening tests in comparison to single men and men who are living with a partner.

"Perhaps wives have more influence than girlfriends," reasoned study's lead author, Stephen Blumberg of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in ABC News.

For this report, the researchers examined responses provided by nearly 24,000 men. The survey, conducted between 2011 and 2012, asked questions regarding the men's relationship status, frequency of physical checkups, and number of screenings for chronic health conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.

The researchers grouped the data into two age groups, which were 18 to 44 and 45 to 64. In the first group, the team found that 69 percent of married men went to the doctor's office within the past year. Only 62 percent of single men and 57 percent of men who lived with their partners, the majority of them being women, went to get a medical checkup. In the older group, 83 percent of married men saw their doctors, whereas the rates for single men and men who lived with their partners were 74 percent and around 69 percent.

The researchers reported finding very similar patterns for health screenings as well. The team cautioned that the relationship between marriage and doctor checkups only existed in insured participants.

 "They are consistent with other research showing that married individuals, especially married men, enjoy greater health benefits than their cohabiting counterparts," commented Susan Brown, a professor of sociology at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, who was not a part of the study, according to FOX News.

The report, "Marriage, Cohabitation, and Men's Use of Preventive Health Care Services," can be found here.