A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the marital status of men is linked to the number of health screenings they get.
For the study, researchers examined responses given by around 24,000 men. The survey, conducted between 2011 and 2012, asked questions about 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 data was divided into two sets. First group was between 18 to 44 years and and the second had information about those between 45 to 64 years. Researchers found that 69 percent of married men in the first group 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 for a medical checkup.
Researchers found that in the group of older men, 83 percent of married men saw their doctors, whereas the rates for single men and those who lived with their partners were 74 percent and around 69 percent respectively.
"Perhaps wives have more influence than girlfriends," reasoned study's lead author, Stephen Blumberg of the CDC, reports in ABC News.
Researchers warned 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 accessed here.
