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Loneliness, health and mortality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2017

J. Henriksen Open the ORCID record for J. Henriksen [Opens in a new window] ,
E. R. Larsen ,
C. Mattisson  and
N. W. Andersson
J. Henriksen*
Affiliation:
Psychiatric Research Academy, Department of Affective Disorders, Aarhus University Hospital, Skovagervej 2, 8240 Risskov, Denmark
E. R. Larsen
Affiliation:
Department of Affective Disorders, Aarhus University Hospital, Skovagervej 2, 8240 Risskov, Denmark
C. Mattisson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Clinical Sciences, The Lundby Study, Lund University Hospital, 221 85 Lund, Sweden
N. W. Andersson
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Artillerivej 5, 2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark
*
*Address for correspondence: Jeppe Henriksen, Aarhus University Hospital, Skovagervej 2, 8240 Risskov, Denmark. (E-mail: jeppe_henriksen@hotmail.com)
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Abstract

Aims.

Literature suggests an association between loneliness and mortality for both males and females. Yet, the linkage of loneliness to mortality is not thoroughly examined, and need to be replicated with a long follow-up time. This study assessed the association between loneliness and mortality, including associations to gender, in 1363 adult swedes.

Methods.

This community-based prospective cohort study from the Swedish Lundby Study included 1363 individuals of whom 296 individuals (21.7%) were identified as lonely with use of semi-structured interviews in 1997. The cohort was followed until 2011 and survival analyses were used to estimate the relative risk of death.

Results.

Death occurred with an incidence rate of 2.63 per 100 person-years and 2.09 per 100 person-years for lonely and non-lonely individuals, respectively. In crude analysis, loneliness was associated with a significant increased mortality risk of 27% compared with non-lonely individuals [hazard ratio (HR) 1.27; 95% CI 1.01–1.60]. Unadjusted, lonely females had a significant increased risk (HR 1.76; 95% CI 1.31–2.34) and adjusted insignificant increased mortality risk of 27% (HR 1.27; 95% CI 0.92–1.74), compared with non-lonely females. Lonely males were found to have an adjusted significant decreased risk of mortality (HR 0.50; 95% CI 0.32–0.80), compared with non-lonely males.

Conclusions.

Findings suggest an association between loneliness and increased risk of mortality and that gender differences may exist, which have not been previously reported. If replicated, our results indicate that loneliness may have differential physical implications in some subgroups. Future studies are needed to further investigate the influence of gender on the relationship.

Keywords

Community mental healthprospective studysocial networksocial support
Type
Original Articles
Information
Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , April 2019 , pp. 234 - 239
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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