ArticlePsychiatry investigation2025
Loneliness, Social Isolation, and Digital Health Literacy Among Older Women Living Alone in South Korea During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Article in Psychiatry investigation, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- The long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on loneliness in European older women and men: a growth curve analysis.European journal of ageing · 2026Article
- The impact of social isolation on physical and mental health among empty-nest older adults: an integrative review.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Loneliness and analgesic overuse among low-dose estrogen-progestin users in Japan.BMC women's health · 2025Article
- Current status of older people with chronic diseases adopting digital health technologies: A scoping review.Digital healthReview
- The digital technology-well-being paradox: No link between digital use and life satisfaction in older adults.Digital healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveWhile using digital technologies for social health is widely acknowledged, the relationship between loneliness, social isolation, and digital health literacy remains unknown. This study aimed to assess the levels of loneliness, social isolation, and digital health literacy in older women living alone and to explore the associations between these factors.
methodsIn August 2021, a cross-sectional survey was conducted on 145 older women living alone, selected using convenience sampling. The study used the University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (version 3), Lubben Social Network Scale-6, and Digital Health Technology Literacy-Assessment Questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, Spearman's rho correlation, and a generalized linear model (GLM).
resultsOf the participants, 22.8% (n=33) reported moderate loneliness, 20.7% (n=30) reported severe loneliness, and 36.6% (n=53) were at risk for social isolation. The mean digital health literacy score among participants was 4.85 (SD=6.92), which is relatively low. Importantly, our findings using a GLM to control for covariates revealed a significant association between loneliness (B=-0.013, p=0.018) and digital health literacy.
conclusionThe increased loneliness experienced during the pandemic may contribute to low digital health literacy, alienating these individuals from the benefits of digital technologies. Therefore, in developing digital health programs or policies, it is imperative to consider the psychosocial status of individuals, including loneliness, while enhancing digital health literacy.
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