Men who never married. A socio-medical study in northern Sweden

In a population-based study 50 never-married men aged 40-64 years were compared with 503 similarly aged other men (married, co-habitant, divorced or widowed). The never-married had shorter education than other men, and had been unemployed more often. The never-married mens' emotional relationships were of lower quality. There was modest tendency towards higher blood pressures and higher serum cholesterol levels among the never-married men, but the differences did not reach statistical significance. In conclusion, never-married men were found to be worse off in terms of social support, education, employment status and health knowledge. Differences in health status, however, were small. It is possible that positive factors, not fully elucidated in this study, counterbalance the adverse socio-medical characteristics. Another possibility is that differences will become manifest at an older age which could be surveyed in a follow-up study.