Loneliness and all-cause mortality in community-dwelling elderly Singaporeans

Angelique Chan, Prassanna Raman, Rahul Malhotra and Stefan Ma
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Angelique Chan: National University of Singapore
Prassanna Raman: National University of Singapore
Rahul Malhotra: National University of Singapore
Stefan Ma: Ministry of Health, Singapore

Demographic Research, 2015, vol. 32, issue 49, 1361-1382

Abstract: Background: Loneliness is a significant risk factor for mortality among older adults. There are several pathways through which loneliness may operate to increase mortality risk, ranging from biological responses and individual perceptions to social interactions and environmental factors. The proportion of single older (65+) person households has doubled in the last ten years in Singapore. Yet little is understood about the relationship between loneliness, social isolation, and mortality risk among older adults, in Singapore and in Asian contexts in general. Objective: To assess the impact of loneliness and social isolation on the risk of all-cause mortality over a four-year period, controlling for demographic characteristics and health status at baseline. Methods: We used data from a longitudinal survey of community-dwelling Singaporean elderly (N=4,522). Loneliness was assessed using the UCLA three-item loneliness scale. Unadjusted and adjusted Cox proportional hazards regressions were used to estimate mortality risk. Results: In the final adjusted model, living arrangements and social networks outside the household were not associated with all-cause mortality. Loneliness increased the risk of all-cause mortality; those sometimes lonely and mostly lonely were 44.0% (p=0.005) and 39.0% (p=0.059) more likely to die compared to those not lonely. Conclusions: Loneliness is associated with higher mortality risks among Singaporean elderly. Mental health among the older population is a major public health concern and community interventions are needed to more efficiently identify, raise awareness of, and increase care for the lonely elderly in the community.

Keywords: loneliness; living alone; elderly; Asia; social networks; Singapore; social isolation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:demres:v:32:y:2015:i:49

DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2015.32.49

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