Are Loneliness and Social Isolation Associated with Quality of Life in Older Adults? Insights from Northern and Southern Europe
Purpose: Loneliness and social isolation have detrimental effects on health in old age; however, the prospective associations with quality of life (QoL) remain unclear. Furthermore, despite the existence of a European north-south gradient in the distribution of loneliness and social isolation, littl...
Published in: | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
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Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2020
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/229206 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228637 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100004587 https://doi.org/10.13039/100012818 |
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ftcsic:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/229206 2024-02-11T10:06:57+01:00 Are Loneliness and Social Isolation Associated with Quality of Life in Older Adults? Insights from Northern and Southern Europe Beridze, Giorgi Ayala García, Alba Ribeiro, Oscar Fernández-Mayoralas, Gloria Rodríguez Blázquez, Carmen Rodríguez Rodríguez, Vicente Rojo Pérez, Fermina Forjaz, María João Calderón-Larrañaga, Amaia Instituto de Salud Carlos III Comunidad de Madrid Fernández-Mayoralas, Gloria 2020 http://hdl.handle.net/10261/229206 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228637 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100004587 https://doi.org/10.13039/100012818 en eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Publisher's version https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228637 Sí Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 17(22): 8637 (2020) http://hdl.handle.net/10261/229206 doi:10.3390/ijerph17228637 1660-4601 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004587 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100012818 33233793 open Aging Loneliness Social isolation Quality of life SHARE Prospective studies artículo http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 2020 ftcsic https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph1722863710.13039/50110000458710.13039/100012818 2024-01-16T11:02:37Z Purpose: Loneliness and social isolation have detrimental effects on health in old age; however, the prospective associations with quality of life (QoL) remain unclear. Furthermore, despite the existence of a European north-south gradient in the distribution of loneliness and social isolation, little is known whether the associations are context-specific. We investigated the relationships between loneliness, social isolation and QoL of older adults residing in the North (Sweden) and South (Spain) of Europe. Methods: Study sample consisted of 2995 Swedish and 4154 Spanish older adults who participated in waves six and seven of the Study on Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Loneliness and social isolation were measured at the baseline, and QoL was measured at the baseline and follow-up using CASP-12. Prospective associations were assessed via multivariate linear regression. Results: In Sweden, subjects with higher vs. lower loneliness had 1.01 (95% CI: −1.55, −0.40) units lower QoL, while every standard deviation increase in social isolation was associated with a 0.27 (95% CI: −0.42, −0.09)-unit decrease in QoL. In Spain, every standard deviation increase in social isolation was associated with a 0.66 (95% CI: −1.11, −0.22)-unit decrease in QoL. The association was stronger in subjects aged ≤65 years old and those with no chronic diseases. The association with loneliness was not statistically significant in Spain. Conclusion: Loneliness and social isolation are prospectively associated with decreased QoL among older adults, yet the associations are contextually bound. Future interventions should target both exposures, among others, in order to increase QoL in this group. This study was partially funded by the Institute of Health Carlos III through the QASP (PI18CIII/00046) and REDISSEC (RD16/0005/0002 and RD16/0001/0005, co-funded by European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund “A way to make Europe”/”Investing in your future”) projects, as well as the ENCAGEN-CM project (H2019/HUM-5698) ... Article in Journal/Newspaper North Sweden Digital.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17 22 8637 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Digital.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) |
op_collection_id |
ftcsic |
language |
English |
topic |
Aging Loneliness Social isolation Quality of life SHARE Prospective studies |
spellingShingle |
Aging Loneliness Social isolation Quality of life SHARE Prospective studies Beridze, Giorgi Ayala García, Alba Ribeiro, Oscar Fernández-Mayoralas, Gloria Rodríguez Blázquez, Carmen Rodríguez Rodríguez, Vicente Rojo Pérez, Fermina Forjaz, María João Calderón-Larrañaga, Amaia Are Loneliness and Social Isolation Associated with Quality of Life in Older Adults? Insights from Northern and Southern Europe |
topic_facet |
Aging Loneliness Social isolation Quality of life SHARE Prospective studies |
description |
Purpose: Loneliness and social isolation have detrimental effects on health in old age; however, the prospective associations with quality of life (QoL) remain unclear. Furthermore, despite the existence of a European north-south gradient in the distribution of loneliness and social isolation, little is known whether the associations are context-specific. We investigated the relationships between loneliness, social isolation and QoL of older adults residing in the North (Sweden) and South (Spain) of Europe. Methods: Study sample consisted of 2995 Swedish and 4154 Spanish older adults who participated in waves six and seven of the Study on Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Loneliness and social isolation were measured at the baseline, and QoL was measured at the baseline and follow-up using CASP-12. Prospective associations were assessed via multivariate linear regression. Results: In Sweden, subjects with higher vs. lower loneliness had 1.01 (95% CI: −1.55, −0.40) units lower QoL, while every standard deviation increase in social isolation was associated with a 0.27 (95% CI: −0.42, −0.09)-unit decrease in QoL. In Spain, every standard deviation increase in social isolation was associated with a 0.66 (95% CI: −1.11, −0.22)-unit decrease in QoL. The association was stronger in subjects aged ≤65 years old and those with no chronic diseases. The association with loneliness was not statistically significant in Spain. Conclusion: Loneliness and social isolation are prospectively associated with decreased QoL among older adults, yet the associations are contextually bound. Future interventions should target both exposures, among others, in order to increase QoL in this group. This study was partially funded by the Institute of Health Carlos III through the QASP (PI18CIII/00046) and REDISSEC (RD16/0005/0002 and RD16/0001/0005, co-funded by European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund “A way to make Europe”/”Investing in your future”) projects, as well as the ENCAGEN-CM project (H2019/HUM-5698) ... |
author2 |
Instituto de Salud Carlos III Comunidad de Madrid Fernández-Mayoralas, Gloria |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Beridze, Giorgi Ayala García, Alba Ribeiro, Oscar Fernández-Mayoralas, Gloria Rodríguez Blázquez, Carmen Rodríguez Rodríguez, Vicente Rojo Pérez, Fermina Forjaz, María João Calderón-Larrañaga, Amaia |
author_facet |
Beridze, Giorgi Ayala García, Alba Ribeiro, Oscar Fernández-Mayoralas, Gloria Rodríguez Blázquez, Carmen Rodríguez Rodríguez, Vicente Rojo Pérez, Fermina Forjaz, María João Calderón-Larrañaga, Amaia |
author_sort |
Beridze, Giorgi |
title |
Are Loneliness and Social Isolation Associated with Quality of Life in Older Adults? Insights from Northern and Southern Europe |
title_short |
Are Loneliness and Social Isolation Associated with Quality of Life in Older Adults? Insights from Northern and Southern Europe |
title_full |
Are Loneliness and Social Isolation Associated with Quality of Life in Older Adults? Insights from Northern and Southern Europe |
title_fullStr |
Are Loneliness and Social Isolation Associated with Quality of Life in Older Adults? Insights from Northern and Southern Europe |
title_full_unstemmed |
Are Loneliness and Social Isolation Associated with Quality of Life in Older Adults? Insights from Northern and Southern Europe |
title_sort |
are loneliness and social isolation associated with quality of life in older adults? insights from northern and southern europe |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/229206 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228637 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100004587 https://doi.org/10.13039/100012818 |
genre |
North Sweden |
genre_facet |
North Sweden |
op_relation |
Publisher's version https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228637 Sí Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 17(22): 8637 (2020) http://hdl.handle.net/10261/229206 doi:10.3390/ijerph17228637 1660-4601 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004587 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100012818 33233793 |
op_rights |
open |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph1722863710.13039/50110000458710.13039/100012818 |
container_title |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
22 |
container_start_page |
8637 |
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1790604993128038400 |