To assess the association between subjective loneliness among the elderly (whether an individual feels lonely) with functional status and longevity after adjustment for potential confounders.
While objective measures of loneliness among older people have been found to be associated with functional decline and increased mortality, little is known concerning the relationship between subjective loneliness, function, morbidity and longevity.
Subjective loneliness, health variables, functional status and mortality were assessed through the Jerusalem Longitudinal Cohort Study (1990-2015), a prospective longitudinal study. Participants born between the years 1920-1921 were assessed at home at ages 70, 78, 85 and 90. Depressed participants were excluded from the statistical analyses. Participants were asked how often they felt lonely, with answers dichotomized to never versus rarely/often/very often.
At age 70, 78, 80 and 90, overall prevalence of loneliness was 27.8% , 23.7% , 23.9% and 26.7% respectively. Male gender and not being married were consistently associated at all ages with increased likelihood of loneliness. After adjusting for baseline variables, we found no association between subjective loneliness and subsequent deterioration in functional status, cognitive function (decline in mini-mental score<24) or chronic pain in any age groups. Furthermore, loneliness was not associated with mortality among the participants between ages 70-78, 78-85, 85-90 and 90-95. We repeated all the analyses, this time including depressed subjects, with no significant change in the overall findings.
Loneliness was not associated with subsequent poor health outcomes or decline in functional status up to the age of 95. Furthermore, no association was found between subjective loneliness and mortality at any age.