ArticleJournal of the American Geriatrics Society2024
Loneliness in older primary care patients and its relationship to physical and mental health-related quality of life.
Article in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- A Group-Based Psychosocial Program for Reducing Loneliness in Older Adults: A Quasi-Experimental Study.Journal of primary care & community healthTrial
- Adipose Reserves and Survival: Protective in Prefrail but Ineffective in Frail Oldest-Old.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2026Article
- The Effects of Open-World and Fun, Accessible Games on Perceived Loneliness and Stoicism in Adults: Cross-Sectional Survey Study.JMIR serious games · 2026Article
- Psychological and functional factors associated with quality of life in comprehensive geriatric care: evidence from a multicenter observational cohort study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Observational
- Salutogenesis for health promotion: tensions and future directions for physical activity/active living research.Health promotion international · 2026Article
- The impact of social isolation and perceived loneliness in older adults: a cross-sectional descriptive Chilean study.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Intrinsic capacity and its association with predictors among Chinese empty nest older adults in communities: a latent class analysis.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Comparison of networks of loneliness, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms in at-risk community-dwelling older adults before and during COVID-19.Scientific reports · 2024Article
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8 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundLoneliness is a significant public health challenge in the United States, especially among older adults. The epidemiology of loneliness among older adults in primary care is lacking, and specific research is needed on how loneliness impacts older primary patients' physical, mental, and cognitive health. A large sample of older primary care patients were recruited for a trial during the COVID-19 pandemic to measure the relationship between loneliness and physical and mental quality of life (QOL).
methodsBaseline data come from the Caregiver Outcomes of Alzheimer's Disease Screening (COADS) study, an ongoing randomized controlled trial evaluating benefits and risks of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias screening among primary care patients ages 65 and older, collected April 2020 to September 2021. Loneliness was measured with the 5-item, Loneliness Fixed Form Ages 18+ from The NIH Toolbox Emotion Battery, physical and mental health-related QOL was measured with the SF-36v2, and depression and anxiety severity were measured with the PHQ-9 and GAD-7, respectively.
resultsSpearman correlation analyses revealed that loneliness was moderately correlated with mental health QOL (r[601] = -0.43, p < 0.001), anxiety severity (r[601] = 0.44, p < 0.001), and depression severity (r[601] = 0.42, p < 0.001), while weakly correlated with physical health QOL (r[601] = -0.15, p < 0.001). After conducting unadjusted and adjusted linear regression models, we found that loneliness was significantly associated with both lower mental (p < 0.001) and physical (p < 0.001) QOL. Furthermore, loneliness remained significantly associated with worse mental QOL after adjusting for age, gender, race, ethnicity, educational level, perceived income status, neighborhood disadvantage, severity of comorbidities, and comorbid depression and anxiety.
conclusionPrimary care providers should discuss loneliness with their older adult patients and provide resources to help patients develop and maintain meaningful social relationships.
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