Impact of loneliness and living alone

Are social isolation, lack of social support or loneliness risk factors for cardiovascular disease in Australia and New Zealand? A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

An international systematic review concluded that individuals with poor social health (social isolation, lack of social support or loneliness) are 30% more likely to develop coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke. Notably, the two included Australian papers reported no association between social health and CHD or stroke.

OBJECTIVE

We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the association between social isolation, lack of social support and loneliness and cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence among people living in Australia and New Zealand.

METHODS

Four electronic databases were systematically searched for longitudinal studies published until June 2020. Two reviewers undertook title/abstract screen and one reviewer undertook full-text screen and data extraction. Quality was assessed using the Newcastle - Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale.

RESULTS

Of the 725 unique records retrieved, five papers met our inclusion criteria. These papers reported data from three Australian longitudinal datasets, with a total of 2137 CHD and 590 stroke events recorded over follow-up periods ranging from 3 to 16 years. Reports of two CHD and two stroke outcomes were suitable for meta-analysis. The included papers reported no association between social health and incidence of CVD in all fully adjusted models and most unadjusted models.

CONCLUSIONS

Our systematic review is inconclusive as it identified only a few studies, which relied heavily on self-reported CVD. Further studies using medical diagnosis of CVD, and assessing the potential influence of residential remoteness, are needed to better understand the relationship between social health and CVD incidence in Australia and New Zealand.

Situation of the Elderly Living Alone: Morbidity and Services Provided from the Field of Primary Health Care of Gran Canaria

The elderly suffer a greater number of health problems and have greater need for assistance and care. (1) Background: to determine the profile of the elderly who live alone, identified according to the Primary Care Health Record of Gran Canaria, and to analyze the sociodemographic data of the target population and determine the characteristics related to morbidity. (2) Methods: descriptive, prospective, cross-sectional study carried out in the Primary Health Care Management of Gran Canaria. The study population was all adults over 65 years of age living alone. The instrument used was the Drago-Electronic Health Record. Data analysis was carried out using RStudio version 1.1.447 software, and descriptive analysis and inferential analysis were carried out using the Chi-square values, T-test for independent samples, and ANOVA. (3) Results: The sample amounted to 8679 subjects, predominantly female sex (86.14%) and with a mean age of 79.4 years. Of the sample, 6.4% lived alone. Based on the classification by Adjusted Morbidity Groups (AMG), subjects with “moderate complications” predominated at 45.5%. (4) Conclusions: It is necessary to implement this type of stratification tool, which allows interventions to be carried out in elderly people at risk.

Mortality of older persons living alone: Singapore Longitudinal Ageing Studies

BACKGROUND

We investigated the association of living alone with mortality among older persons, independently of marital, health and other factors, and explored its effect modification by age group, sex, marital status and physical functional disability.

METHOD

Using data from 8 years of mortality follow up (1 September 2003 to 31 December 2011) of 2553 participants in the Singapore Longitudinal Ageing Studies (SLAS) cohort, we estimated hazard ratio (HR) of mortality associated with living alone using Cox proportional hazard models.

RESULTS

At baseline, 7.4 % (N = 189) of the participants were living alone, and 227 (8.9 %) died during the follow up period. Living alone was significantly associated with mortality 1.66 (95 % CI, 1.05-2.63), controlling for health status (hypertension, diabetes, chronic lung disease, stroke, heart disease, kidney failure, IADL-ADL disability and depressive symptoms), marital status and other variables (age, sex, housing type). Possible substantive effect modification by sex (p for interaction = 0.106) and marital status (p for interaction <0.115) were observed: higher among men (HR = 2.36, 95 % CI, 1.24-4.49) than women (HR = 1.14, 95 % CI, 0.58-2.22), and among single, divorce or widowed (HR = 2.26, 95 % CI, 1.24-4.10) than married individuals (HR = 0.83, 95 % CI, 0.30-2.31).

CONCLUSION

Living alone was associated with increased mortality, independently of marital, health and other variables. The impact of living alone on mortality appeared to be stronger among men and those who were single, divorced or married.

Impact of living alone on institutionalization and mortality: a population-based longitudinal study

BACKGROUND

Living alone is common among elderly people in Western countries, and studies on its relationship with institutionalization and all-cause mortality have shown inconsistent results. We investigated that the impact of living alone on institutionalization and mortality in a population-based cohort of elderly people.

METHODS

Data originate from the Swedish National study on Aging and Care-Kungsholmen. Participants aged ≥66 years and living at home (n = 2404) at baseline underwent interviews and clinical examination. Data on living arrangements were collected in interviews. All participants were followed for 6 years; survival status and admission into institutions were tracked continuously through administrative registers from 2001 to 2007. Data were analysed using Cox proportional hazard models, competing risk regressions and Laplace regressions with adjustment for potential confounders.

RESULTS

Of the 2404 participants, 1464 (60.9%) lived alone at baseline. During the follow-up, 711 (29.6%) participants died, and 185 (15.0%) were institutionalized. In the multi-adjusted Cox model, the hazard ratio (HR) of mortality in those living alone was 1.35 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18 to 1.54), especially among men (HR = 1.44, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.76). Living alone shortened survival by 0.6 years and was associated with the risk of institutionalization (HR = 1.74, 95% CI 1.10 to 2.77) after taking death into account as a competing risk.

CONCLUSIONS

Living alone is associated with elevated mortality, especially among men and an increased risk of institutionalization. Over a 6-year period, living alone was related to a half year reduction in survival among elderly people in Sweden.