ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2021
Associations of Loneliness and Social Isolation With Health Span and Life Span in the U.S. Health and Retirement Study.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 110 citations in OpenAlex.
- Loneliness, social isolation, and living alone: a comprehensive systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression of mortality risks in older adults.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2025Pooled it
- Social isolation as a risk factor for all-cause mortality: Systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- The prevalence of loneliness across 113 countries: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2022Pooled it
- Loneliness and Functional Decline in Aging: A Systematic Review.Research in gerontological nursingPooled it
- Chronic loneliness and isolation phenotypes and physical and mental health in older adults.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Is my loneliness killing me? Effects of loneliness and social isolation on transitions between cognitive status categories and death.Journal of personality and social psychology · 2026Article
- Development of an AI-Enabled Remote Loneliness Assessment System for Older Adults Using Behavioral and Speech Data From IoT Sensors and Smart Speakers.Assessment · 2026Article
- Estimating the effects of hypothetical loneliness interventions on memory function among middle-aged and older adults in the United States.American journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Complete Digital Disconnection as a Prognostic Marker of Mortality or Residential-Care Transition in Older Adults With Cardiovascular Risk: A Nationally Representative Cohort Study.Research square · 2026Article
- Examining associations of social disconnectedness change patterns with subsequent healthcare utilization and costs among public healthcare users in Central Singapore.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Joint association of frailty and social isolation with depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older Chinese adults: a nationwide cohort study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Linking peripheral low-grade inflammation and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier leakage in schizophrenia spectrum disorders - A retrospective analysis.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Personality Traits and Social Isolation in Older Adults.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Prevalence and risk factors of loneliness among older adults in China: a nationally representative study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Daily loneliness deconstructed: Examining patterns of within- and between-person variation.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Article
- Disentangling social isolation, loneliness, and later-life cognitive function for older adults in the United States: evidence from causal inference modeling.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- The heat exposure, aging trajectories, and Alzheimer's disease (HEAT-AD) study protocol.PloS one · 2026Article
- Article
- Perceived healthy community environment and loneliness among older adults in China: indirect psychosocial pathways through community belongingness and multi-source received social support.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Molecular markers, mechanisms and metrics of biological aging: a scoping review.Frontiers in aging · 2026Review
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLoneliness and social isolation are emerging public health challenges for aging populations.
methodsWe followed N = 11 302 U.S. Health and Retirement Study participants aged 50-95 from 2006 to 2014 to measure persistence of experiences of loneliness and exposure to social isolation. We tested associations of longitudinal loneliness and social isolation phenotypes with disability, morbidity, mortality, and biological aging through 2018.
resultsDuring follow-up, 18% of older adults met criteria for loneliness, with 6% meeting criteria at 2 or more follow-up assessments. For social isolation, these fractions were 21% and 8%. Health and Retirement Study participants who experienced loneliness and were exposed to social isolation were at increased risk for disease, disability, and mortality. Those experiencing persistent loneliness were at a 57% increased hazard of mortality compared to those who never experienced loneliness. For social isolation, the increase was 28%. Effect sizes were somewhat larger for counts of prevalent activity limitations and somewhat smaller for counts of prevalent chronic diseases. Covariate adjustment for socioeconomic and psychological risks attenuated but did not fully explain associations. Older adults who experienced loneliness and were exposed to social isolation also exhibited physiological indications of advanced biological aging (Cohen's d for persistent loneliness and social isolation = 0.26 and 0.21, respectively). For loneliness, but not social isolation, persistence was associated with increased risk.
conclusionsDeficits in social connectedness prevalent in a national sample of U.S. older adults were associated with morbidity, disability, and mortality and with more advanced biological aging. Bolstering social connectedness to interrupt experiences of loneliness may promote healthy aging.
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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.