Research Details about Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults
What are social isolation and loneliness?
- Social isolation and loneliness are closely related concepts. Social isolation can be understood as an objective measure of a person’s social network [1] , including their level of social interaction [2] .
- Loneliness is a more subjective measure of a person’s social network [1] . It can be further described as a difference in a person’s desired social network compared to their actual social network.
How common are social isolation and loneliness in older adults?
- Before COVID-19, 17.6% of Canadians aged 65 years or older reported loneliness [3] .
- Before COVID-19, 17.6% of Canadians aged 65 years or older reported loneliness [3] .
- During COVID-19, 33% of Ontarians 50 years+ reported being socially isolated [4] .
What are the risk factors for social isolation and loneliness in older adults?
- 30% of Canadian older adults are at risk of becoming socially isolated [5] .
- In 2021, 15% of women (aged 15+) across Canada’s provinces reported always feeling lonely or often feeling lonely, compared with 11% of men in the same age group [6] .
- Individuals with compromised health status and multiple chronic health problems have been identified as risk factors of social isolation and loneliness [7] .
- 24% of those who live alone reported always/often feeling lonely, more than double those living with other people [6] .
- Other factors attributed to an increased risk of social isolation among Canadian seniors include: no children or contact with family, changing family structures, lacking access to transportation, experiencing critical life transitions (death of a spouse, losing a driver’s license, retirement), and lacking awareness of or access to community services/programs [7] .
What are the impacts of social isolation and loneliness?
- 49% of those who report always/often feeling lonely reported their mental health was fair or poor compared to only 7% who report rarely or never feeling lonely [6] .
- Social isolation has been associated with an approximately 55% increased risk of dementia [8] .
- “Loneliness has been associated with a 59% increased risk of functional decline and 45% increased risk of death” [9](p18) .
- Cancer mortality risk was 25% higher among those in the United States experiencing social isolation compared to those not [10] .
- In an older study, “After accounting for multiple covariates, the increased likelihood of death was 26% for reported loneliness, 29% for social isolation, and 32% for living alone” [11] .
- High social isolation has been associated with approximately 3.75 times increased risk of death, 68% increased risk of hospitalization, and 57% increased risk of emergency department visits, compared to those with low social isolation [12] .
- “The magnitude of health risk associated with social isolation is now deemed to be comparable with that of cigarette smoking and other major biomedical and psychosocial risk factors” [13] .