Beal Claudia C, Stuifbergen Alexa
University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing, 78701-4710, USA
Rehabil Nurs. 2007 Jul-Aug;32(4):165-71. doi: 10.1002/j.2048-7940.2007.tb00171.x.
Loneliness is an underrecognized component of the experience of chronic illness and disability. Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) may be at risk for loneliness due to social network changes that occur in the course of chronic illness. The purpose of this secondary analysis was to assess the extent of loneliness in a sample of 659 women with MS and examine the relationship of loneliness, social support, functional limitation, self-rated health status, social demands of illness, and marital status. More than half of the women in this sample reported feeling lonely. A significant association was found between loneliness and lower levels of social support, greater social demands of illness, greater functional limitation, lower self-rated health status, and marital status. These findings suggest that rehabilitation nurses and other health professionals should be aware that loneliness may be a common occurrence for women with MS and point to the need for screening procedures to identify loneliness in this population.
孤独是慢性病和残疾体验中一个未得到充分认识的因素。患有多发性硬化症（MS）的女性可能因慢性病过程中发生的社交网络变化而面临孤独风险。这项二次分析的目的是评估659名患有MS的女性样本中的孤独程度，并研究孤独感、社会支持、功能限制、自评健康状况、疾病的社会需求和婚姻状况之间的关系。该样本中超过一半的女性表示感到孤独。研究发现孤独感与较低水平的社会支持、更高的疾病社会需求、更大的功能限制、更低的自评健康状况以及婚姻状况之间存在显著关联。这些发现表明，康复护士和其他健康专业人员应意识到孤独感可能是患有MS的女性中常见的现象，并指出需要进行筛查程序以识别该人群中的孤独感。
