Relationship status and respiratory diseases: an analysis on a general population sample

Background: Very few studies have examined whether marital/relationship status affects respiratory diseases. Objective: Assess the association of relationship status (Rstatus: domestic partnership/civil union/marriage, cohabitation with non-partners, being single) with current (CA) and past asthma (PA), allergic (AR) and non-allergic rhinitis (NAR), and chronic bronchitis (CB). Methods: Data were collected in the frame of GEIRD, a population-based, multicase-control survey. Among 2531 subjects (age 21–86, female 50%) who underwent standardized interviews, skin prick and lung function tests, 575 cases of CA, 268 cases of PA, 968 cases of AR, 462 cases of NAR, 265 cases of CB without airflow obstruction and 832 controls were identified. The association of Rstatus with respiratory diseases was evaluated by logistic regression for CB and multinomial regression for CA and PA and for AR and NAR, adjusting for sex, age, smoking, education, employment status, the centre and the interaction between sex and relationship status. Results: The Rstatus was not associated with CA and PA, nor with AR and NAR. An interaction between sex and Rstatus (p=0.004) was identified when considering CB. After adjustment for potential confounders, in women living with non-partners and in single women the likelihood of CB was significantly higher than in women in a domestic partnership/civil union/marriage (OR=2.81, 95%C.I.:1.62-4.87 and OR=2.71, 95%C.I.:1.43-5.14, respectively). There was no association between the Rstatus and CB in men. Conclusions: These findings suggest a higher risk of chronic bronchitis in women without a partner, while relationship status has not been found to be associated with asthma or rhinitis in both sexes.