School of Nursing, Tung Wah College, Hong Kong.
Department of Anaesthesiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Sep 6;18(17):9398. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18179398.
Loneliness among older people has now become a serious public health issue. There have been few previous studies conducted among Chinese populations on the correlations between loneliness, self-rated health, and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), and their association with demographic characteristics. In this study, data were collected using quota sampling through survey interviews. Older people living in representative districts were recruited. Of the participants, 60.1% rated their health as average and 58.1% showed a high level of loneliness. IADL and self-rated health (SRH) were found to be moderately positively correlated, with r = 0.357, < 0.001. A low negative correlation was found between the level of loneliness and IADL, with r = -0.276; and SRH, with r = -0.288, < 0.05. Ordinal Regression results showed that subjects with higher IADL scores (OR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.39-1.05) were less lonely, while those with a less desirable economic status (OR: 3.34, 95% CI: 1.40-7.96) and living in the central business district were more likely to have a higher loneliness score (OR: 21.33, 95% CI: 4.81-95.41). It is essential to screen for loneliness, and interventions should be focused on improving social connections and support for older people to overcome their feelings of loneliness.
老年人的孤独问题现已成为严重的公共卫生问题。之前针对中国人群，关于孤独感、自我健康评估和日常生活活动能力（IADL）之间的相关性，及其与人口统计学特征的关系，进行的研究较少。本研究通过问卷调查进行配额抽样收集数据，招募了具有代表性地区的老年人。参与者中，60.1%自评健康状况一般，58.1%存在较高程度的孤独感。IADL 和自我健康评估（SRH）呈中度正相关，r = 0.357，<0.001。孤独感与 IADL 呈负相关，r = -0.276；与 SRH 呈负相关，r = -0.288，<0.05。有序回归结果显示，IADL 得分较高的受试者（OR：0.64，95%CI：0.39-1.05）孤独感较低，而经济状况较差（OR：3.34，95%CI：1.40-7.96）和居住在中央商务区（OR：21.33，95%CI：4.81-95.41）的受试者孤独感得分更高。因此，有必要对孤独感进行筛查，并应针对改善老年人的社会联系和支持来干预，以克服其孤独感。
