Assessment of Different Dimensions of Loneliness among Adults Living with Chronic Diseases

Dijana Babić (), Snježana Benko Meštrović, Želimir Bertić, Milan Milošević and Gordana Kamenečki
Additional contact information
Dijana Babić: Magdalena-Clinic for Cardiovascular Diseases, Ljudevita Gaja 2, 49217 Krapinske Toplice, Croatia
Snježana Benko Meštrović: Physiotherapy Department, Special Hospital for Pulmonary Diseases, Rockefellerova 3, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Želimir Bertić: Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Studies, Viktora Cara Emina 5, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia
Milan Milošević: Department for Occupational and Environmental Health, Andrija Stampar School of Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Rockefellerova 4, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Gordana Kamenečki: Community Health Centre Krapina, Krapinsko-Zagorska County, Mirka Crkvenca 1, 49000 Krapina, Croatia

Social Sciences, 2024, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: Background : Loneliness has become a growing public health problem. Adult people who live with chronic health problems often experience more severe consequences of this condition. The purpose of this research is to determine the level of loneliness and differences in dimensions of loneliness in adults living with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Methods : The study was conducted in the Magdalena Clinic for Cardiovascular Diseases. The selected sample consisted of a group of patients admitted for short-term hospital treatment. The data were collected using the 11-item De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (DJGLS). Differences in outcomes with respect to gender, educational level and marital, work and living status, as well as medical diagnoses of the participants, were compared using the Kruskal–Wallis test or the Mann–Whitney U test. Spearman’s rho coefficient was used to analyze the correlation between the independent variables and the total score on different categories of loneliness. Results : A moderate level of loneliness (SD = 3.53; M = 3.0) was determined in almost half of the participants (N = 52; 49.1%). A statistically significant positive correlation was confirmed in the relationship between the emotional dimension of loneliness and the gender of the participants. The participants that had a lower education level showed a higher level of emotional loneliness, but also a higher overall level of loneliness. The age of the participants correlated negatively with the level of social loneliness (rho = −0.029). Conclusions : Loneliness is present among adults living with cardiovascular diseases in different dimensions and intensity. Although the connection between loneliness and health outcomes needs to be further investigated, the negative impact of this psychosocial problem on cardiovascular health cannot be ignored.

Keywords: loneliness; assessment; dimensions; adults; cardiovascular diseases (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/4/202/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/4/202/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:13:y:2024:i:4:p:202-:d:1370668

Access Statistics for this article

Social Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Yvonne Chu

More articles in Social Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().