ArticlePreventive medicine reports2022
Loneliness and physical function impairment: Perceived health status as an effect modifier in community-dwelling older adults in Ghana.
Article in Preventive medicine reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and factors associated with loneliness among older adults in Africa: systematic review and meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Loneliness and Functional Decline in Aging: A Systematic Review.Research in gerontological nursingPooled it
- Trial
- Physical activity and loneliness interrelations with retirement status, health, and personality factors: a theory-based study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Attainment of Community-Based Goals Is Associated with Lower Risk of Hospital Readmission for Older Australians Accessing the Australian Transition Care Program.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Loneliness and functional limitations shaping one another: evidence from the Health and Retirement Study.Aging & mental health · 2025Article
- Cross-sectional association of food insecurity with loneliness in older adults: The role of sex, age, and psychosomatic factors.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2024Article
- Loneliness and risky behaviours among mobile fishers in Elmina, Ghana: a convergent parallel mixed-method study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Dementia Screening in Rural Kenya: The Prevalence and Impact of Screening Positive for Dementia.Neuroepidemiology · 2024Article
- Aerobic Fitness as an Important Moderator Risk Factor for Loneliness in Physically Trained Older People: An Explanatory Case Study Using Machine Learning.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Relationships between Interpersonal Goals and Loneliness in Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- COVID-19 experiences of social isolation and loneliness among older adults in Africa: a scoping review.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- The "loneliness epidemic", intersecting risk factors and relations to mental health help-seeking: A population-based study during COVID-19 lockdown in Canada.Journal of affective disorders · 2023Article
- Loneliness Among Older Adults Receiving Long-Term Home Care Services: A Quantitative Study.SAGE open nursingArticle
- Loneliness, social isolation, and cardiovascular disease among nonveteran and Veteran women.Journal of women & agingArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough loneliness and physical function impairment (PFI) are common geriatric syndromes and public health issues, little is known about how their associations vary via self-perception of health. We examine how loneliness is associated with PFI, and whether the association is modified by perceived health status.
methodsWe conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 1201 adults aged ≥ 50 years from the Aging, Health, Psychological Well-being and Health Seeking Behavior Study (AgeHeaPsyWel-HeaSeeB) in Ghana. We assessed loneliness using the three-item short-form of the UCLA Loneliness Scale, and PFI was measured with a seven-item scale on mobility-related deficiencies. Adjusted logistic regressions and moderation analysis evaluated the hypothesized associations.
resultsThe prevalence of moderate, severe loneliness, and PFI were 37.5%, 17.7%, and 36.1%, respectively. Regressions showed that loneliness was associated with a 23% increased risk of PFI after adjusting for several potential confounders (OR = 1.23; 95%CI = 1.03-2.81). PFI sub-types revealed similar risks. The loneliness-PFI association was significantly moderated by perceived health status such that a positive health perception attenuated the effect of loneliness on PFI (OR = 0.46, 95%CI = 0.23-0.90).
conclusionsIndividuals who were lonely had significantly higher odds for PFI but the effect was tempered by perceived health status. Social policy and public health practices for healthy aging should address loneliness and negative health perception among older people.
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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.