Newall Nancy, McArthur Jennifer, Menec Verena H
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
J Aging Health. 2015 Apr;27(3):500-18. doi: 10.1177/0898264314552420. Epub 2014 Oct 5.
This study examined whether social participation and loneliness predicted health care service use (physician visits, hospitalizations, length of stay in hospital).
Participants' (N = 954; 54% female; aged 45+ years) health data were tracked over 2.5 years following in-person interviews.
Being lonely was associated with greater number of physician visits, though this relationship was mediated by health. Neither loneliness nor social participation was associated with admission to hospital. However, for those who were hospitalized at least once over 2.5 years, being lonely was associated with a higher odds of being re-hospitalized; furthermore, greater social participation was associated with a lower odds of being in the hospital for an extended duration. These relationships held even when controlling for initial health.
Results provide evidence, using objective health care data, of the potential importance of social factors in predicting adults' physician visits, re-hospitalization, and length of stay in hospital.
本研究探讨了社交参与和孤独感是否能预测医疗服务的使用情况（看医生次数、住院次数、住院时长）。
在面对面访谈后，对参与者（N = 954；54%为女性；年龄45岁及以上）的健康数据进行了2.5年的跟踪。
孤独与更多的看医生次数相关，不过这种关系是由健康状况介导的。孤独感和社交参与度均与住院无关。然而，对于那些在2.5年内至少住院一次的人来说，孤独与再次住院的较高几率相关；此外，更高的社交参与度与较长时间住院的较低几率相关。即使在控制初始健康状况后，这些关系依然成立。
研究结果利用客观的医疗数据，证明了社会因素在预测成年人看医生次数、再次住院情况和住院时长方面的潜在重要性。
