ArticleQuality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation2021
The association between social isolation and musculoskeletal health in older community-dwelling adults: findings from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study.
Article in Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cross-national comparison of the association between adult child educational attainment and older parents' functional health.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2026Article
- Short- and Long-Term Effects of Social Isolation on Adult Murine Bone are Sex-Dependent.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Exploring the impact of waiting time on physical function and psychosocial measures in individuals with lower limb osteoarthritis awaiting orthopaedic consultation.Journal of health psychology · 2026Article
- Thermoneutral housing has limited effects on social isolation-induced bone loss in male C57BL/6J mice.JBMR plus · 2025Article
- Are Levels of Loneliness Associated With Levels of Comfort and Capability in Musculoskeletal Illness?Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2025Article
- The Association of Family and Friend Networks with Appetite: Structural Equation Modeling of the Indirect Effects of Depression among Community-Dwelling Older Adults.Annals of geriatric medicine and research · 2025Article
- General self-efficacy, not musculoskeletal health, was associated with social isolation and loneliness in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2024Article
- Evidence-based exercise recommendations to improve functional mobility in older adults - A study protocol for living systematic review and meta-analysis.Open research Europe · 2024Article
- Relationship between Optimism, Self-Efficacy and Quality of Life: A Cross-Sectional Study in Elderly People with Knee Osteoarthritis.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Article
- Investigating the relationship between self-perception of fracture risk and prior fracture: findings from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2023Article
- Social Isolation Causes Cortical and Trabecular Bone Loss in Adult Male, but not Female, C57BL/6J Mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- Association of social isolation with health status among community-dwelling Chinese older adults living with homecare services: a cross-sectional survey in Hong Kong.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Article
- Older Women Who Practiced Physical Exercises before the COVID-19 Pandemic Present Metabolic Alterations and Worsened Functional Physical Capacity after One Year of Social Isolation.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- The Transition of Social Isolation and Related Psychological Factors in 2 Mild Lockdown Periods During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan: Longitudinal Survey Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2022Article
- Relationships between non-communicable disease, social isolation and frailty in community dwelling adults in later life: findings from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeSocial isolation has been associated with both physical and psychological adverse outcomes and is prevalent in older adults. We investigated the impact of social isolation on bone mineral density (BMD) and physical capability in community-dwelling older adults.
methodsData were collected in 2011 and 2017 from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study. In 2011, we assessed social isolation using the six-item Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS-6) and the Maastricht Social Participation Profile (MSSP) and depressive and anxiety symptoms using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Physical capability was assessed by performing tests of gait speed, chair stands, timed up and go and balance at both time points. BMD was assessed using dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at both time points.
resultsData were available from 369 participants in 2011 and 184 in 2017. Forty percent of men and 42.4% of women were socially isolated. Isolated participants had higher odds of depressive disorder (OR 3.01, 95% CI 1.27-7.11, p < 0.02). Social isolation at baseline was associated with poor physical capability scores at follow-up (OR 5.53, 95% CI 1.09-27.99, p < 0.04). No associations were found between social isolation and BMD at either time point.
conclusionsSocial isolation was associated with higher odds of having depressive symptoms and predicted the development of poor physical capability 6 years later. Further longitudinal studies that include loneliness as a covariate are warranted.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.