Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jan 3:11:1485490.
doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1485490. eCollection 2024.

Marital status and risk of type 2 diabetes among middle-aged and elderly population: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Mohammad Amin Karimi #  1 , Sara Binaei #  2 , Seyed Hadi Hashemi  3 , Pegah Refahi  4 , Ensiyeh Olama  5 , Elnaz Olama  5 , Aydin Mohammadpour  6 , Reza Mostafaei Yonjali  6 , Mohadeseh Poudineh  7 , Niloofar Deravi  8
Affiliations

Marital status and risk of type 2 diabetes among middle-aged and elderly population: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Mohammad Amin Karimi et al. Front Med (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Background: Marital status is among the factors influencing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, the precise relationship remains incompletely understood. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the association between marital status and the incidence of T2DM.

Methods: A review and meta-analysis of observational studies were conducted to investigate the relationship between marital status and diabetes incidence. We searched three databases, including PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus, for relevant studies published up to August 16th, 2023. In our initial search, we identified a total of 358 articles. After a demanding screening process involving evaluating titles, abstracts, and full-text content, we ultimately included six studies for our meta-analysis.

Result: Comprising a total of 1,440,904 participants, our study found that in comparison to married individuals, unmarried participants exhibited a higher likelihood of developing diabetes [odds ratio (OR): 1.47, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.88-2.45, I 2: 91%, p-value = 0.14]. Divorced participants had a reduced likelihood of developing diabetes compared to married participants (OR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.77-0.91, I 2: 17%, p < 0.001). Similarly, widowed participants showed a lower risk of developing diabetes compared to divorced participants (OR: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.26-0.46, I 2: 83%, p < 0.00001).

Conclusion: This study provides strong evidence of links between marital status and type 2 diabetes risk. Unmarried individuals are more susceptible to T2DM, divorced individuals have a lower risk, and widowed individuals exhibit reduced T2DM risk. Further research should investigate underlying mechanisms and confounding factors.

Keywords: T2DM; diabetes; divorced; married; meta-analysis; relationship; single; widow.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram outlining the systematic review process. The figure illustrates the identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion stages of the systematic review. A total of 489 records were initially identified from three databases: PubMed (n = 138), Scopus (n = 161), and Google Scholar (n = 190). After removing duplicates (n = 131), 358 unique records were screened based on titles and abstracts, excluding 312 irrelevant studies. Full-text assessments were conducted on 46 reports, with 40 excluded due to irrelevant outcomes. Ultimately, six studies meeting the inclusion criteria were selected for the final review and meta-analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest plots of diabetes risk in married vs. unmarried.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Funnel plot of diabetes risk in married vs. unmarried.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest plot of diabetes risk in married vs. divorced.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Funnel plot of diabetes risk in married vs. divorced.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Forest plot of diabetes risk in married vs. widowed.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Funnel plot of diabetes risk in married vs. widowed.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. American Diabetes Association . Economic costs of diabetes in the U.S. in 2017. Diabetes Care. (2018) 41:917–28. doi: 10.2337/dci18-0007, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Roden M, Shulman GI. The integrative biology of type 2 diabetes. Nature. (2019) 576:51–60. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1797-8 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Stumvoll M, Goldstein BJ, van Haeften TW. Type 2 diabetes: principles of pathogenesis and therapy. Lancet. (2005) 365:1333–46. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)61032-X - DOI - PubMed
    1. Weyer C, Bogardus C, Mott DM, Pratley RE. The natural history of insulin secretory dysfunction and insulin resistance in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus. J Clin Invest. (1999) 104:787–94. doi: 10.1172/JCI7231, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ebrahim S, Smith GD. Exporting failure? Coronary heart disease and stroke in developing countries. Int J Epidemiol. (2001) 30:201–5. doi: 10.1093/ije/30.2.201, PMID: - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources