School of Nursing, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Nursing, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
School of Nursing, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Nursing, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Taiwanese Society of Suicidology & Taiwan Suicide Prevention Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
J Formos Med Assoc. 2024 Apr;123(4):510-516. doi: 10.1016/j.jfma.2023.12.014. Epub 2024 Feb 1.
Loneliness is a critical issue affecting the general population. Current evidence from national surveys of loneliness is scarce. The study aimed to examine the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence of loneliness and its associating suicide risks in Taiwan.
Four annual telephone interview surveys were performed by the Taiwan Suicide Prevention Center in 2015-2017 and 2020 during COVID outbreak. Each year the sample was randomly selected by stratifying the general public in different geographical areas and fulfilled a questionnaire collecting information including loneliness, psychological distress, and suicide risk assessment. All the data were analyzed using SPSS25 analysis.
A total of 8460 participants were recruited. The average prevalence of loneliness was 12.6 %. Feelings of loneliness was significantly correlated with psychological distress and most risk factors relating to suicide. The odds of loneliness for lifetime suicidal ideation, lifetime suicide attempt, and future suicide intent were 4.9, 5.1, and 9.2, respectively. During the COVID-19 period, loneliness and suicidality demonstrated a noteworthy decline trend, whereas "no one trustworthy to talk to" was the only item that showed significant increase under the pandemic and also impacted on loneliness.
Nearly one in ten Taiwanese people felt lonely before and during COVID-19. Loneliness was closely linked with various suicide risk factors such as lifetime suicide ideation and attempt or future intention. Although psychological distress and suicide risk were not increased during COVID-19, maintaining trustful relationships to seek support appeared to be critical to prevent the risks of loneliness or suicide.
孤独是影响普通人群的一个关键问题。目前关于孤独的全国性调查证据很少。本研究旨在探讨 COVID-19 大流行对台湾孤独感流行及其与自杀风险关联的影响。
2015-2017 年和 2020 年 COVID 爆发期间，台湾自杀预防中心通过四次年度电话访谈调查进行了此项研究。每年通过对不同地理区域的公众进行分层抽样，随机选择样本，并完成一份问卷，收集包括孤独感、心理困扰和自杀风险评估在内的信息。所有数据均使用 SPSS25 分析进行分析。
共招募了 8460 名参与者。孤独感的平均患病率为 12.6%。孤独感与心理困扰和大多数与自杀相关的风险因素显著相关。有过自杀意念、自杀未遂和未来自杀意向的人发生孤独感的几率分别为 4.9、5.1 和 9.2。在 COVID-19 期间，孤独感和自杀倾向呈显著下降趋势，而“无人可信可倾诉”是大流行期间唯一显著增加的项目，且孤独感也受到影响。
在 COVID-19 之前和期间，近十分之一的台湾人感到孤独。孤独感与各种自杀风险因素密切相关，如自杀意念和自杀未遂或未来的自杀意向。尽管 COVID-19 期间心理困扰和自杀风险没有增加，但保持值得信赖的关系以寻求支持似乎对于预防孤独感或自杀风险至关重要。
