ArticleDiabetologia2023
Loneliness increases the risk of type 2 diabetes: a 20 year follow-up - results from the HUNT study.
Article in Diabetologia, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07486050 (The Impact of Social Worker Referrals on A1C for Seniors With Diabetes Experiencing Loneliness), which is not on this map. Cited by 27 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
The Impact of Social Worker Referrals on A1C for Seniors With Diabetes Experiencing Loneliness: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic Review of Loneliness and Social Isolation Interventions in Obesity and Obesity-Related Complications.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026Pooled it
- Prevalence and risk factors for loneliness among individuals with diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- The association between insomnia (related symptoms) and glycaemic control: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of global health · 2025Pooled it
- Associations of loneliness, social isolation and healthy lifestyle with life expectancy free of major physical disease and mental disorder.Nature communications · 2026Article
- The prairie vole gut-brain-microbiota-axis: a narrative review.Gut microbiome (Cambridge, England) · 2026Review
- Conceptualising workplace loneliness: a qualitative investigation with UK workers.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Article
- Association of diabetes mellitus and social isolation with loneliness among older Japanese adults: a cross-sectional study.Endocrine · 2025Article
- Associations between prenatal diabetes mellitus, social determinants of health, and postpartum psychopathology: A retrospective review within women with diabetes mellitus.Research square · 2025Article
- Could loneliness accelerate the progression of diabetes among adults with prediabetes: national longitudinal cohort.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Opioid Regulation of Social Homeostasis: Connecting Loneliness to Addiction.Biological psychiatry · 2025Review
- Classification and identification of risk factors for type 2 diabetes.World journal of diabetes · 2025Review
- Loneliness, Discrimination, Stress, and Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Young Adults.American journal of preventive medicine · 2025Article
- The hidden impact: social isolation and inflammation's role in pancreatic cancer risk among those with diabetes.BMC cancer · 2025Article
- Retrospective population-based study of 132 000 Canadians on the relationship between community belonging and diabetes incidence.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- Social isolation: an integrated molecular web that disrupts cellular homeostasis.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Review
- Onset of Type 2 diabetes in adults aged 50 and older in Europe: an intersectional multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy.Diabetology & metabolic syndrome · 2024Article
- [Loneliness as health risk: a narrative review].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2024Review
- The relationship between loneliness and blood glucose: a cross-sectional survey among Japanese.BMC research notes · 2024Article
- Interaction of serotonin/GLP-1 circuitry in a dual preclinical model for psychiatric disorders and metabolic dysfunction.Psychiatry research · 2024Article
- Healthcare and health situation of adults with type 2 diabetes in Germany: The study GEDA 2021/2022-Diabetes.Journal of health monitoring · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aims/hypothesisType 2 diabetes is one of the leading causes of death globally and its incidence has increased dramatically over the last two decades. Recent research suggests that loneliness is a possible risk factor for type 2 diabetes. This 20 year follow-up study examined whether loneliness is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. As both loneliness and type 2 diabetes have been linked to depression and sleep problems, we also investigated whether any association between loneliness and type 2 diabetes is mediated by symptoms of depression and insomnia.
methodsWe used data from the Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT study), a large longitudinal health study based on a population from central Norway (n=24,024). Self-reports of loneliness (HUNT2 survey, 1995-1997) and data on HbA
resultsDuring the 20 year follow-up period, 4.9% of the study participants developed type 2 diabetes. Various degrees of feeling lonely were reported by 12.6% of the participants. Individuals who felt most lonely had a twofold higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes relative to those who did not feel lonely (adjusted OR 2.19 [95% CI 1.16, 4.15]). The effect of loneliness on type 2 diabetes was weakly mediated by one subtype of insomnia but not by symptoms of depression. CONCLUSIONS/
interpretationThis study suggests that loneliness may be one factor that increases the risk of type 2 diabetes; however, there is no strong support that the effect of loneliness on type 2 diabetes is mediated by depression or insomnia. We recommend that loneliness should be included in clinical guidelines on consultations and interventions related to type 2 diabetes.
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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.