Onset of loneliness in older adults: results of a 28 year prospective study.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Aartsen M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3047676 | biostudies-other | 2011 Mar
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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Project description:BackgroundWhile bathing styles vary among countries, most Japanese people prefer tub bathing to showers and saunas. However, few studies have examined the relationship between tub bathing and health outcomes. Accordingly, in this prospective cohort study, we investigated the association between tub bathing frequency and the onset of functional disability among older people in Japan.MethodsWe used data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES). The baseline survey was conducted from August 2010 through January 2012 and enrolled 13,786 community-dwelling older people (6,482 men and 7,304 women) independent in activities of daily living. During a 3-year observation period, the onset of functional disability, identified by new certification for need of Long-Term Care Insurance, was recorded. Tub bathing frequencies in summer and winter at baseline were divided into three groups: low frequency (0-2 times/week), moderate frequency (3-6 times/week), and high frequency (≥7 times/week). We estimated the risks of functional disability in each group using a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model.ResultsFunctional disability was observed in a total of 1,203 cases (8.7%). Compared with the low-frequency group and after adjustment for 14 potential confounders, the hazard ratios of the moderate- and high-frequency groups were 0.91 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.75-1.10) and 0.72 (95% CI, 0.60-0.85) for summer and 0.90 (95% CI, 0.76-1.07) and 0.71 (95% CI, 0.60-0.84) for winter.ConclusionHigh tub bathing frequency is associated with lower onset of functional disability. Therefore, tub bathing might be beneficial for older people's health.
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Project description:ObjectiveIn older adults, widespread pain (WP) is common, although its etiology is unclear. This study sought to identify factors associated with an increased risk of developing WP in adults age ?50 years.MethodsA population-based prospective study was conducted. A baseline questionnaire was administered to subjects to collect data on pain, psychological status, lifestyle and health behaviors, and sociodemographic and clinical factors. Participants free of WP (as defined by the American College of Rheumatology 1990 criteria for fibromyalgia) were followed up for 3 years, and those with new-onset WP at followup were identified. Logistic regression analyses were used to test the relationship between baseline factors and new-onset WP. Multiple imputation was used to test the results for sensitivity to missing data.ResultsIn this population-based study, 4,326 subjects (1,562 reporting no pain at baseline and 2,764 reporting some pain at baseline) participated at followup. Of these participants, 800 (18.5%) reported a status of new WP at followup (of whom, 121 [7.7%] had reported no pain at baseline and 679 [24.6%] had reported some pain at baseline). The majority of the study factors were associated with new-onset WP. However, only a few factors showed a persistent association with new-onset WP in the multivariate analysis, including age (odds ratio [OR] 0.97, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.96-0.99), baseline pain status (OR 1.1, 95% CI 1.08-1.2), anxiety (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.01-2.1), physical health-related quality of life (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.1-1.5), cognitive complaint (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.04-1.6), and nonrestorative sleep (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.2-2.8). These associations persisted after adjustment for the presence of diffuse osteoarthritis (OA), which led to a modest increase in model fit (C-statistic 0.738, compared with 0.731 in the model excluding diffuse OA). The results were not sensitive to missing data.ConclusionOf the factors measured in this study, nonrestorative sleep was the strongest independent predictor of new-onset WP.
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Project description:BackgroundLoneliness has become a significant public health concern for older people. However, little is known about the association of loneliness, loneliness literacy, and changes in loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic with mental well-being. The purpose of this study was to explore whether loneliness literacy is related to a lower risk of loneliness, increased loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, and improved mental well-being for community-based older adults.MethodsA telephone survey was conducted to collect data from older adults aged 65 years or older in Taiwan (n = 804). Loneliness, change in loneliness during COVID-19, and loneliness literacy were the main variables. Mental well-being was assessed by depressive symptoms and life satisfaction. Related factors included personal level (demographics, health conditions, health behaviors, and problem-focused/ emotion-focused coping strategies), interpersonal level (marital status, living arrangements, social support, social participation, leisure activities, and social interactions during COVID-19), and societal level (areas and regions) factors.ResultsFour dimensions of loneliness literacy were identified by factor analysis: self-efficacy, social support, socialization, and in-home support. Self-efficacy and in-home support were related to lower loneliness. Lower self-efficacy, higher social support, and higher socialization were related to changes (increases) in loneliness during COVID-19. In-home support may prevent depressive symptoms, while self-efficacy was beneficial for better life satisfaction. In addition, emotion-focused coping may increase loneliness during COVID-19, while satisfaction with family support would be a protective factor against loneliness.ConclusionLoneliness literacy is related to loneliness and increased loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Building up an age-friendly community with embedded services/information and learning positive coping and mental resilience strategies are suggested.
| S-EPMC9412798 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Social isolation and loneliness can create negative health outcomes for older adults. Informed by social capital and intergroup contact theories, our goal was to reduce these social problems using an intergenerational reverse-mentoring program. During fall 2020, we implemented an adapted, fully online version of Cyber-Seniors that encouraged undergraduate students to provide technology mentoring to local older adults in a seven-county area in rural Appalachia. We recruited gerontology students through the university and local older adults through local aging organizations. We collected data through pre-and post-tests that included validated measures (Lubben Social Network Scale-6 and UCLA 3-item loneliness scale) and open-ended questions about the program. Thirty-one students and nine older adults completed the pre-survey; twenty students and eight older adults completed the post-survey. We made comparisons using t-tests and considered p < 0.20 to indicate meaningful differences given the anticipated small sample size in this pilot project. Isolation did not change among older adults but increased among students in the family domain (p = 0.14) between baseline and follow-up. Loneliness improved between the pre- and post-tests among older adults (mean: 5.6 (SD = 2.2) to 4.1 (SD = 1.3), p = 0.17) but not among students (mean: 5.0 (SD = 1.5) to 5.2 (SD = 1.7), p = 0.73). In open-ended responses, older adults described learning new ways to interact with friends and family as a result of the program. This program was acceptable and suggested effectiveness in an important health-related domain (loneliness). While larger studies are needed to fully test the program's impact, this pilot evaluation suggests that reverse mentoring programs can be implemented virtually and may improve social outcomes.
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Project description:ObjectivesRecent evolutionary psychological theory proposes that loneliness is an adaptive mechanism, designed to trigger maintenance and repair of social ties. No population representative analyses have probed loneliness effects on sociality. The present study addressed this gap.MethodData were from the 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, nationally representative of U.S. adults over age 50. Recently developed cross-lagged models with fixed effects were used to test prospective within-person associations of loneliness with specific dimensions of sociality, taking into account reverse causality as well as all time-invariant confounders with stable effects. Both gender-combined and -specific analyses were conducted.ResultsLoneliness did not consistently predict overall sociality: sparse linkages were found only among women. The same null pattern held with family ties. Non-family ties, in contrast, were associated with prior loneliness, but in a gender-specific way. Loneliness positively predicted women's social interactions with friends, but seemed linked to withdrawal from these relationships among men. There were indications that lonely men instead used religious attendance as a social outlet.DiscussionLoneliness seems to induce domain- and gender-specific sociality responses. Findings suggest implications for evolutionary models of sociality as well as for psychosocial and physical health. Pending replication in independent samples, inferences remain tentative.
| S-EPMC8660579 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundLoneliness is experienced by a third of older adults in the UK and is a modifiable potential risk factor for depressive symptoms. It is unclear how the association between loneliness and depressive symptoms persists over time, and whether it is independent of related social constructs and genetic confounders. We aimed to investigate the association between loneliness and depressive symptoms, assessed on multiple occasions during 12 years of follow-up, in a large, nationally representative cohort of adults aged 50 years and older in England.MethodsWe did a longitudinal study using seven waves of data that were collected once every 2 years between 2004 and 2017, from adults aged 50 years and older in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). The exposure was loneliness at baseline (wave two), measured with the short 1980 revision of the University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (R-UCLA). The primary outcome was a score indicating severity of depression measured at six subsequent timepoints (waves three to eight), using the eight-item version of the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Analyses were linear multilevel regressions, before and after adjusting for social isolation, social support, polygenic risk scores, and other sociodemographic and health-related confounders. The secondary outcome was depression diagnosis, measured using a binary version of the CES-D.Findings4211 (46%) of 9171 eligible participants had complete data on exposure, outcome, and confounders, and were included in our complete case sample. After all adjustments, a 1-point increase in loneliness score was associated with a 0·16 (95% CI 0·13-0·19) increase in depressive symptom severity score (averaged across all follow-ups). We estimated a population attributable fraction for depression associated with loneliness of 18% (95% CI 12-24) at 1 year of follow-up and 11% (3-19) at the final follow-up (wave eight), suggesting that 11-18% of cases of depression could potentially be prevented if loneliness were eliminated. Associations between loneliness and depressive symptoms remained after 12 years of follow-up, although effect sizes were smaller with longer follow-up.InterpretationIrrespective of other social experiences, higher loneliness scores at baseline were associated with higher depression symptom severity scores during 12 years of follow-up among adults aged 50 years and older. Interventions that reduce loneliness could prevent or reduce depression in older adults, which presents a growing public health problem worldwide.FundingNational Institute on Aging and a consortium of UK Government departments coordinated by the National Institute for Health Research.
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Project description:Ample evidence indicates that loneliness in old age is associated with poor bodily and mental health. However, little is known about structural cerebral correlates of loneliness in healthy older adults. We examined such correlates in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) subsample of 319 older adults aged 61 to 82 years drawn from the Berlin Aging Study II. Using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and structural equation modeling (SEM), latent hierarchical regression analyses were performed to examine associations of (i) loneliness, (ii) a range of covariates, and (iii) loneliness by covariate interactions with latent brain volume estimates of brain structures known to be involved in processing, expressing, and regulating emotions. Results from whole-brain VBM analyses showed that individuals with higher loneliness scores tended to have smaller gray matter volumes in three clusters comprising (i) the left amygdala/anterior hippocampus, (ii) the left posterior parahippocampus and (iii) the left cerebellum. Significant associations and interactions between loneliness and latent factors for the amygdala and the hippocampus were confirmed with a region-of-interest (ROI)-based approach. These findings suggest that individual differences in loneliness among older adults are correlated with individual differences in the volumes of brain regions that are central to cognitive processing and emotional regulation, also after correcting for confounders such as social network size. We discuss possible mechanisms underlying these associations and their implications.
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Project description:BACKGROUND:Socialization is an important part of the healthy aging process, but natural changes in the lifestyle and health of older people increased risk of loneliness. However, loneliness is not well defined and might differ in different cultures and settings. The main objective of this systematic review is to summarize literature on the topic and propose a definition that might help aging research and practice in the future. METHODS:Eight databases including PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, Web of Science, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Proquest, and Age Line bibliographic will be run individually to retrieve relevant literature on loneliness among elderly population using subject headings and appropriate MeSH terms. Inclusion and exclusion criteria will be developed and refined by the research team. Two reviewers will participate in each search stage including abstract/title and full text screening, data extraction, and appraisal. We will restrict our search to articles published in the English language biomedical journal between 2000 and 2017. The protocol adheres to the standards recommended by the PRISMA-P. DISCUSSION:The results of this systematic review can present a more accurate definition of loneliness for researchers who aim at conducting new primary and secondary studies on this subject. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION:CRD42017058729.
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Project description:Although several studies have shown small longitudinal associations between baseline loneliness and subsequent dementia risk, studies rarely test whether change in loneliness predicts dementia risk. Furthermore, as both increase with advancing age, genetic and environmental selection processes may confound the putative causal association between loneliness and dementia risk. We used a sample of 2,476 individual twins from three longitudinal twin studies of aging in the Swedish Twin Registry to test the hypothesis that greater positive change in loneliness predicts greater dementia risk. We then used a sample of 1,632 pairs of twins to evaluate the hypothesis that effects of change in loneliness on dementia risk would remain after adjusting for effects of genetic and environmental variance. Phenotypic model results suggest that mild levels of baseline loneliness predict greater dementia risk. Contrary to our hypothesis, change in loneliness did not correlate with dementia risk, regardless of whether genetic and environmental selection confounds were taken into account. Worsening loneliness with age may not confer greater dementia risk.
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