Loneliness Among Older Adults in Latin America, China, and India: Prevalence, Correlates and Association With Mortality

Qian Gao; Matthew Prina; Martin Prince; Daisy Acosta; Ana Luisa Sosa; Mariella Guerra; Yueqin Huang; Ivonne Jimenez-Velazquez; Juan Llibre Rodriguez; Aquiles Salas; Joseph Williams; Zhaorui Liu; Isaac Acosta; Rosie Mayston

doi:10.3389/ijph.2021.604449

Loneliness Among Older Adults in Latin America, China, and India: Prevalence, Correlates and Association With Mortality

Qian Gao, Matthew Prina, Martin Prince, Daisy Acosta, Ana Luisa Sosa, Mariella Guerra, Yueqin Huang, Ivonne Jimenez-Velazquez, Juan Llibre Rodriguez, Aquiles Salas, Joseph Williams, Zhaorui Liu, Isaac Acosta, Rosie Mayston

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35 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objectives: This study was designed to explore prevalence and correlates of self-reported loneliness and to investigate whether loneliness predicts mortality among older adults (aged 65 or above) in Latin America, China and India. Methods: The study investigated population-based cross-sectional (2003-2007) and longitudinal surveys (follow-up 2007-2010) from the 10/66 Dementia Research Group project. Poisson regression and Cox regression analyses were conducted to analyse correlates of loneliness and its association with mortality. Results: The standardised prevalence of loneliness varied between 25.3 and 32.4% in Latin America and was 18.3% in India. China showed a low prevalence of loneliness (3.8%). In pooled meta-analyses, there was robust evidence to support an association between loneliness and mortality across Latin American countries (HR = 1.13, 95% CI 1.01-1.26, I2 = 10.1%) and China (HR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.03-2.41), but there were no associations in India. Conclusion: Our findings suggest potential cultural variances may exist in the concept of loneliness in older age. The effect of loneliness upon mortality is consistent across different cultural settings excluding India. Loneliness should therefore be considered as a potential dimension of public health among older populations.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	604449
Number of pages	1
Journal	International Journal of Public Health
Volume	66
Early online date	31 Mar 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2021.604449
Publication status	Published - 31 Mar 2021

Keywords

Loneliness, Mortality, Older Adults, Low- and Middle-Income Countries, Social Ageing

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.3389/ijph.2021.604449Licence: CC BY

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Gao, Q., Prina, M., Prince, M., Acosta, D., Sosa, A. L., Guerra, M., Huang, Y., Jimenez-Velazquez, I., Llibre Rodriguez, J., Salas, A., Williams, J., Liu, Z., Acosta, I., & Mayston, R. (2021). Loneliness Among Older Adults in Latin America, China, and India: Prevalence, Correlates and Association With Mortality. International Journal of Public Health, 66, 604449. https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2021.604449

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title = "Loneliness Among Older Adults in Latin America, China, and India: Prevalence, Correlates and Association With Mortality",

abstract = "Objectives: This study was designed to explore prevalence and correlates of self-reported loneliness and to investigate whether loneliness predicts mortality among older adults (aged 65 or above) in Latin America, China and India. Methods: The study investigated population-based cross-sectional (2003-2007) and longitudinal surveys (follow-up 2007-2010) from the 10/66 Dementia Research Group project. Poisson regression and Cox regression analyses were conducted to analyse correlates of loneliness and its association with mortality. Results: The standardised prevalence of loneliness varied between 25.3 and 32.4% in Latin America and was 18.3% in India. China showed a low prevalence of loneliness (3.8%). In pooled meta-analyses, there was robust evidence to support an association between loneliness and mortality across Latin American countries (HR = 1.13, 95% CI 1.01-1.26, I2 = 10.1%) and China (HR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.03-2.41), but there were no associations in India. Conclusion: Our findings suggest potential cultural variances may exist in the concept of loneliness in older age. The effect of loneliness upon mortality is consistent across different cultural settings excluding India. Loneliness should therefore be considered as a potential dimension of public health among older populations.",

keywords = "Loneliness, Mortality, Older Adults, Low- and Middle-Income Countries, Social Ageing",

author = "Qian Gao and Matthew Prina and Martin Prince and Daisy Acosta and Sosa, {Ana Luisa} and Mariella Guerra and Yueqin Huang and Ivonne Jimenez-Velazquez and {Llibre Rodriguez}, Juan and Aquiles Salas and Joseph Williams and Zhaorui Liu and Isaac Acosta and Rosie Mayston",

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doi = "10.3389/ijph.2021.604449",

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Gao, Q , Prina, M , Prince, M, Acosta, D, Sosa, AL, Guerra, M, Huang, Y, Jimenez-Velazquez, I, Llibre Rodriguez, J, Salas, A, Williams, J, Liu, Z, Acosta, I & Mayston, R 2021, 'Loneliness Among Older Adults in Latin America, China, and India: Prevalence, Correlates and Association With Mortality', International Journal of Public Health, vol. 66, pp. 604449. https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2021.604449

TY - JOUR

T1 - Loneliness Among Older Adults in Latin America, China, and India: Prevalence, Correlates and Association With Mortality

AU - Gao, Qian

AU - Prina, Matthew

AU - Prince, Martin

AU - Acosta, Daisy

AU - Sosa, Ana Luisa

AU - Guerra, Mariella

AU - Huang, Yueqin

AU - Jimenez-Velazquez, Ivonne

AU - Llibre Rodriguez, Juan

AU - Salas, Aquiles

AU - Williams, Joseph

AU - Liu, Zhaorui

AU - Acosta, Isaac

AU - Mayston, Rosie

PY - 2021/3/31

Y1 - 2021/3/31

N2 - Objectives: This study was designed to explore prevalence and correlates of self-reported loneliness and to investigate whether loneliness predicts mortality among older adults (aged 65 or above) in Latin America, China and India. Methods: The study investigated population-based cross-sectional (2003-2007) and longitudinal surveys (follow-up 2007-2010) from the 10/66 Dementia Research Group project. Poisson regression and Cox regression analyses were conducted to analyse correlates of loneliness and its association with mortality. Results: The standardised prevalence of loneliness varied between 25.3 and 32.4% in Latin America and was 18.3% in India. China showed a low prevalence of loneliness (3.8%). In pooled meta-analyses, there was robust evidence to support an association between loneliness and mortality across Latin American countries (HR = 1.13, 95% CI 1.01-1.26, I2 = 10.1%) and China (HR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.03-2.41), but there were no associations in India. Conclusion: Our findings suggest potential cultural variances may exist in the concept of loneliness in older age. The effect of loneliness upon mortality is consistent across different cultural settings excluding India. Loneliness should therefore be considered as a potential dimension of public health among older populations.

AB - Objectives: This study was designed to explore prevalence and correlates of self-reported loneliness and to investigate whether loneliness predicts mortality among older adults (aged 65 or above) in Latin America, China and India. Methods: The study investigated population-based cross-sectional (2003-2007) and longitudinal surveys (follow-up 2007-2010) from the 10/66 Dementia Research Group project. Poisson regression and Cox regression analyses were conducted to analyse correlates of loneliness and its association with mortality. Results: The standardised prevalence of loneliness varied between 25.3 and 32.4% in Latin America and was 18.3% in India. China showed a low prevalence of loneliness (3.8%). In pooled meta-analyses, there was robust evidence to support an association between loneliness and mortality across Latin American countries (HR = 1.13, 95% CI 1.01-1.26, I2 = 10.1%) and China (HR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.03-2.41), but there were no associations in India. Conclusion: Our findings suggest potential cultural variances may exist in the concept of loneliness in older age. The effect of loneliness upon mortality is consistent across different cultural settings excluding India. Loneliness should therefore be considered as a potential dimension of public health among older populations.

KW - Loneliness, Mortality, Older Adults, Low- and Middle-Income Countries, Social Ageing

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U2 - 10.3389/ijph.2021.604449

DO - 10.3389/ijph.2021.604449

M3 - Article

SN - 1661-8556

VL - 66

SP - 604449

JO - International Journal of Public Health

JF - International Journal of Public Health

ER -

Loneliness Among Older Adults in Latin America, China, and India: Prevalence, Correlates and Association With Mortality

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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