Aunsmo Ragnhild Holmberg, Strand Bjørn Heine, Bergh Sverre, Hansen Thomas, Kivimäki Mika, Köhler Sebastian, Krokstad Steinar, Langballe Ellen M, Livingston Gill, Matthews Fiona E, Selbæk Geir
Norwegian National Centre for Ageing and Health Vestfold Hospital Trust Tønsberg Norway.
Faculty of Medicine Institute of Clinical Medicine University of Oslo Oslo Norway.
Alzheimers Dement (Amst). 2025 Jul 29;17(3):e70154. doi: 10.1002/dad2.70154. eCollection 2025 Jul-Sep.
Loneliness is postulated to be a risk factor for dementia. However, the findings are inconsistent, and long-term studies on this association remain scarce.
In all, 9389 participants self-reported loneliness in the Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) in HUNT1 (1984-1986), HUNT2 (1995-1997), and/or HUNT3 (2006-2008) and underwent cognitive assessment in HUNT4 (2017-2019) at age 70 years or older. Logistic regression was employed to analyze the association between the course of loneliness and dementia, with those never lonely as a reference.
In the fully adjusted model, the odds ratio (OR) for persistent loneliness was 1.47 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.10, 1.95). This attenuated when adjusting for depression (OR 1.28, 95% CI 0.95, 1.72).
Persistent loneliness from midlife into older age, as well as becoming lonely, were associated with increased odds of dementia, whereas transient loneliness in midlife was not. These findings underscore the importance of reducing loneliness.
The study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04786561) and is available online .
Persistent and incident loneliness was associated with a higher risk of dementia.Transient loneliness was not associated with a higher risk of dementia.Loneliness 11 years before to the cognitive assessment was associated with dementia.Reducing the sense of loneliness might reduce or delay the onset of dementia.
孤独被认为是痴呆症的一个风险因素。然而，研究结果并不一致，关于这种关联的长期研究仍然很少。
在特隆赫姆健康研究（HUNT）中，共有9389名参与者在HUNT1（1984 - 1986年）、HUNT2（1995 - 1997年）和/或HUNT3（2006 - 2008年）中自我报告了孤独情况，并在70岁及以上时于HUNT4（2017 - 2019年）接受了认知评估。采用逻辑回归分析孤独病程与痴呆症之间的关联，以从未感到孤独的人群作为参照。
在完全调整模型中，持续孤独的优势比（OR）为1.47（95%置信区间[CI]为1.10, 1.95）。在调整抑郁因素后，这一数值有所减弱（OR为1.28，95% CI为0.95, 1.72）。
从中年到老年持续孤独以及变得孤独与患痴呆症的几率增加有关，而中年时期短暂的孤独则无关。这些发现强调了减少孤独的重要性。
该研究已在ClinicalTrials.gov（NCT04786561）注册，可在线获取。
持续孤独和新发孤独与痴呆症风险较高相关。短暂孤独与痴呆症风险较高无关。认知评估前11年的孤独与痴呆症有关。减少孤独感可能会降低或延缓痴呆症的发病。
