SynthesisRevista espanola de salud publica2023
[Studying loneliness and social support networks among older people: a systematic review in Europe.]
Synthesis in Revista espanola de salud publica, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 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
13 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Quality of Life, Active Ageing, Social Support and Loneliness in Older Adults Attending Day Centres: A Descriptive Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Unwanted loneliness in older adults: sociodemographic, economic and psychosocial determinants and self-reported loneliness-inducing situations.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Exploratory descriptive cross-sectional study on loneliness and participation in leisure activities among non-institutionalized older adults.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Mapping the factors of loneliness in older adults: the role of employment and work activity - a scoping review.International journal of occupational medicine and environmental health · 2025Article
- Factors associated with quality of life and the use of public healthcare and social services in older adults experiencing loneliness.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Impact of a Multidimensional Community-Based Intervention on the Feeling of Unwanted Loneliness and Its Consequences: A Quasi-Experimental Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding intrinsic capacity in the elderly population: A cross-sectional study in Shanghai, China.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Unravelling the complexity of the relationship between social support sources and loneliness: A mixed-methods study with older adults.PloS one · 2025Article
- Factorial structure, validity, and gender invariance of the UCLA-R loneliness scale in ecuadorian adolescents.PloS one · 2025Article
- Social isolation, loneliness, and functional disability in Chinese older women and men: a longitudinal cross-lag analysis.BMC psychology · 2024Article
- Prevalence of Unwanted Loneliness and Associated Factors in People over 65 Years of Age in a Health Area of the Region of Murcia, Spain: HELPeN Project.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Socioeconomic status, loneliness, and depression among older adults: a cross-sectional study in Spain.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Evaluation of Delayed Effective Discharge for Non-Medical Reasons in Patients Admitted to Acute Care Hospitals in Spain: A Scoping Review.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveDuring the ageing process the loss of family and social relationships is frequent which conditions loneliness, similarly the current COVID-19 pandemic has generated more social limitations in this age group and has increased the risk factors to trigger feelings of loneliness. This paper aimed to examine how loneliness among older people had been studied in Europe over the last ten years. Specific objectives were: i) to describe the methodological aspects; ii) to identify the scales or questions for the assessment of loneliness; iii) what were the main variables or dimensions that were related to loneliness in old age.
methodsA total of 1,591 articles were found in WoS and Scopus digital platforms. After initial assessment of titles and abstracts, full text reading and review of the established criteria, 42 scientific articles were finally included in the systematic review.
resultsThe countries that had carried out the most studies were the Netherlands and Spain. Most of the research was quantitative and uses the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (DJGLS) and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale. The most analysed variables were: marital status, household structure, social support networks, social participation, depression, health problems, co-morbidity and physical functioning.
conclusionsThe scientific interest in studying loneliness, with a focus on social support networks, in older people in Europe and strategically addressing loneliness as a public health problem is confirmed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
36700292PMC10540907W4318169127What 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.