Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Aging Ment Health. 2022 Sep;26(9):1821-1828. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2021.1976723. Epub 2021 Sep 22.
Individuals who feel lonely and those who are socially isolated have higher mortality risks than those who are not lonely or socially isolated. However, the importance of loneliness and social isolation for survival is rarely analysed in the same study or with consideration of gender differences. The aim was to examine the separate, mutually adjusted, and combined effects of loneliness and social isolation with mortality in older women and men.
Data from the SWEOLD study, a nationally representative sample of people aged 69+ years living in Sweden, was combined with register data on mortality and analysed using Cox regressions.
Mortality was higher among older women and men with higher levels of loneliness or social isolation. Social isolation was more strongly associated with mortality than loneliness and the association remained when controlling for health. The combined effects of loneliness and social isolation did not surpass their independent effects.
Loneliness and social isolation is associated with an increased mortality risk, and social integration should be a prioritised target for activities and services involving older adults.
感到孤独和社交孤立的个体比不孤独或不社交孤立的个体有更高的死亡率风险。然而，在同一项研究中很少分析孤独和社会隔离对生存的重要性，也很少考虑到性别差异。本研究旨在分别分析、相互调整和综合评估孤独和社会隔离对老年女性和男性死亡率的影响。
本研究结合了瑞典全国代表性样本 69 岁以上人群的 SWEOLD 研究数据和死亡率登记数据，使用 Cox 回归进行分析。
孤独感或社会隔离程度较高的老年女性和男性死亡率更高。与孤独感相比，社会隔离与死亡率的相关性更强，并且在控制健康状况后这种关联仍然存在。孤独和社会隔离的综合影响并没有超过它们各自的影响。
孤独感和社会隔离与更高的死亡率风险相关，社会融合应该成为针对老年人群体的活动和服务的优先目标。
