Marital Discord leads to sudden Cardiac Death

Usually, an arrhythmic complication of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, valve heart disease, congenital anomaly of coronary arteries, conduction system disease, and congenital heart disease are among man causes of Sudden Cardiac Death.

Researchers used the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease study to evaluate the link between the perceived level of marital satisfaction and risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in 2,262 men. It is an ongoing prospective population-based study in Finland. The study has been published in The American Journal of Cardiology.

Conflicts in marriage have been associated with potential risk of cardiovascular disease; however, there is a lack of prospective evidence on the association between marital satisfaction and sudden cardiac death (SCD). Sudden cardiac death is defined as death within 1 hour of symptom onset.

The researchers employed the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease (KIHD) study, an ongoing prospective population-based study in Finland. Perceived level of marital satisfaction was assessed in 2262 men using a well-structured self-administered questionnaire.

The multivariable-adjusted cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) (95% CI) for SCD. During a median follow-up period of 25.9 years, 239 SCDs were recorded. The mean age of participants was 53 years. On adjustment for several conventional cardiovascular risk factors, HR of SCD was 1.90 for men who were dissatisfied with their marriage, compared to men who were satisfied with their marriage. The association remained consistent on further adjustment for pre-existing coronary heart disease, socioeconomic status and years of education 1.86.

The researchers concluded that dissatisfied marriage is associated with an increased risk of SCD among middle-aged Caucasian men, independent of conventional cardiovascular risk factors.