Murayama Hiroshi, Suda Takumi, Nakamoto Isuzu, Tabuchi Takahiro
Research Team for Social Participation and Healthy Aging, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology, 35-2 Sakae-cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-0015, Japan.
Department of Global Health Research, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2025 Apr;60(4):943-952. doi: 10.1007/s00127-024-02793-0. Epub 2024 Dec 6.
Social isolation and loneliness have been long-standing public health concerns, and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has exacerbated these issues. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the associations of social isolation and loneliness during the pandemic with experience of COVID-19 infection and hospitalization in the Japanese population.
Data were sourced from the Japan COVID-19 and Society Internet Survey (JACSIS), a large-scale, web-based national survey of individuals aged 15-79. This study used JACSIS data from 2020 to 2022, representing the first and third years of the pandemic. Social isolation was measured by the frequency of direct and indirect contact with people other than co-residing family members. Loneliness was evaluated using the UCLA Loneliness Scale, while COVID-19 infection and hospitalization were self-reported.
A total of 13,612 individuals were included, of whom 1.5% had experienced hospital admission due to COVID-19, and 9.3% were infected but not hospitalized. Social isolation was inversely associated with COVID-19 infection risk (odds ratio = 0.77; 95% confidence interval: 0.66-0.90), while a higher level of loneliness was related to hospitalization (odds ratio = 2.21; 95% confidence interval: 1.59-3.09). Sex-stratified analyses revealed stronger associations in men than women.
This study highlights the complex relationship between psychosocial factors and infectious disease outcomes, underscoring the need for comprehensive approaches to address the multifaceted challenges posed by global health crises.
社会隔离和孤独一直是公共卫生领域长期关注的问题，而2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行加剧了这些问题。因此，本研究旨在调查大流行期间日本人群的社会隔离和孤独感与COVID-19感染及住院经历之间的关联。
数据来源于日本COVID-19与社会互联网调查（JACSIS），这是一项针对15至79岁人群的大规模全国性网络调查。本研究使用了2020年至2022年JACSIS的数据，涵盖了大流行的第一年和第三年。社会隔离通过与非共同居住家庭成员的直接和间接接触频率来衡量。孤独感使用加州大学洛杉矶分校孤独量表进行评估，而COVID-19感染和住院情况则通过自我报告获得。
共纳入13612名个体，其中1.5%因COVID-19住院，9.3%感染但未住院。社会隔离与COVID-19感染风险呈负相关（优势比=0.77；95%置信区间：0.66-0.90），而较高水平的孤独感与住院相关（优势比=2.21；95%置信区间：1.59-3.09）。按性别分层分析显示，男性的关联比女性更强。
本研究凸显了心理社会因素与传染病结局之间的复杂关系，强调需要采取综合方法来应对全球健康危机带来的多方面挑战。
