PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Watanabe, Taeko
AU  - Sugiyama, Takehiro
AU  - Takahashi, Hideto
AU  - Noguchi, Haruko
AU  - Tamiya, Nanako
TI  - Concordance of hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia in married couples: cross-sectional study using nationwide survey data in Japan
AID  - 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-036281
DP  - 2020 Jul 01
TA  - BMJ Open
PG  - e036281
VI  - 10
IP  - 7
4099  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/7/e036281.short
4100  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/7/e036281.full
SO  - BMJ Open2020 Jul 01; 10
AB  - Objective Because married couples have many environmental influences in common, spouses may develop similar diseases. This study aimed to determine the concordance of hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia, which are major risk factors for cardiovascular disease, among married couples in Japan.Research design and methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of married couples who were both aged ≥40 years using the 2016 Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions, which is a Japanese national survey. We first determined the proportions of wives and husbands who were receiving therapy for each of the diseases of interest. We then conducted logistic regression analyses using the wives undergoing therapy for each disease as outcomes and the husbands undergoing therapy for the same disease as the principal exposure, adjusting for covariates.Results The subjects of the analyses were 86 941 married couples. The wives of male patients were significantly more likely to be receiving therapy for the same disease. Logistic regression revealed that when husbands were undergoing therapy for these diseases their wives had ORs (95% CIs) of 1.79 (1.72–1.86) for hypertension, 1.45 (1.34–1.58) for diabetes, 2.58 (2.41–2.75) for dyslipidaemia and 1.87 (1.80–1.93) for any of these diseases.Conclusions If men have hypertension, diabetes or dyslipidaemia, their wives were also more susceptible to the same disease. Medical professionals and couples may need to recognise these results and consider couple-based interventions to help the prevention, early detection and treatment of these diseases.