Department of Health Economics and Health Services Research, Hamburg Center for Health Economics, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
Department of Health Economics and Health Services Research, Hamburg Center for Health Economics, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2020 Jul-Aug;89:104080. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2020.104080. Epub 2020 Apr 24.
While previous studies have examined the determinants of loneliness (i) using a longitudinal approach and (ii) using data from nationally representative samples, only few studies have done both at once. Hence, the purpose of our study was to clarify which factors are associated with loneliness longitudinally based on nationally representative data.
Data were taken from wave 5 to 7 of the "Survey of Health Ageing, and Retirement in Europe "(SHARE; covering 27 European countries and Israel in total) (in our analytical sample, n = 101,909 observations). Loneliness was assessed using the three-item loneliness scale. As explanatory variables, we included age, marital status, income, self-rated health, depressive symptoms, functional decline, cognitive functioning and chronic diseases. Exploiting the features of panel data and mitigating the problem of unobserved heterogeneity, linear FE regressions were used.
FE regressions showed that loneliness increased with increasing age (β = .02, p < .001), changes from married and living together with spouse/registered partnership to another marital status (β=-.71, p < .001), decreases in log income (β=-.01, p < .05), worsening self-rated health (β = .04, p < .001), functional decline (β = .09, p < .001), increases in depressive symptoms (β = .13, p < .001) and decreases in cognitive functioning (β=-.01, p < .001), whereas it was not associated with changes in chronic diseases.
Our longitudinal study based on nationally representative SHARE data contributed to identify the determinants of loneliness among older Europeans using panel data methods. Tackling the identified risk factors may assist in avoiding loneliness in older adults living in Europe.
虽然先前的研究已经通过纵向研究（i）和使用全国代表性样本（ii）考察了孤独感的决定因素，但只有少数研究同时进行了这两项研究。因此，我们的研究目的是根据全国代表性数据，明确哪些因素与孤独感的纵向变化有关。
数据来自“欧洲健康老龄化和退休研究”（SHARE）的第 5 波至第 7 波（涵盖 27 个欧洲国家和以色列）（在我们的分析样本中，共有 101909 个观察值）。孤独感采用三项孤独感量表进行评估。作为解释变量，我们包括年龄、婚姻状况、收入、自评健康状况、抑郁症状、功能下降、认知功能和慢性疾病。利用面板数据的特点并缓解未观测到的异质性问题，采用线性 FE 回归。
FE 回归显示，孤独感随年龄增长而增加（β=0.02，p<0.001），已婚且与配偶/注册伴侣共同生活的人改变为其他婚姻状况（β=-0.71，p<0.001），对数收入下降（β=-0.01，p<0.05），自评健康状况恶化（β=0.04，p<0.001），功能下降（β=0.09，p<0.001），抑郁症状增加（β=0.13，p<0.001），认知功能下降（β=-0.01，p<0.001），而慢性疾病的变化与孤独感无关。
我们基于具有全国代表性的 SHARE 数据的纵向研究使用面板数据方法确定了欧洲老年人孤独感的决定因素。解决已识别的风险因素可能有助于避免欧洲老年人孤独。
