ArticleBMC public health2025
Sex-specific associations of social isolation and loneliness with residual life expectancy at age 45 years among middle-aged and older adults in China.
Article in BMC public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundGlobally, one-third of older adults experience social isolation or loneliness, making them critical public health priorities. However, the impact of social isolation and loneliness on life expectancy remains underexplored. This study investigated the separate and joint associations of social isolation and loneliness with residual life expectancy at age 45 years, alongside the sex-specific variations in these associations with the aim of informing targeted strategies for mitigating social health disparities in rapidly ageing populations.
methodsThis prospective cohort study was conducted using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. A total of 11,315 community dwellers (5,274 men; 6,041 women) aged 45 years and above included. After the baseline 2011 assessment year, participants from the 2013, 2015, 2018, and 2020 waves were followed up. The measurements included the following: social isolation, assessed on the basis of social network usage, activities, and engagements; loneliness, evaluated on the basis of the subjective feeling of loneliness; and a flexible parametric Royston-Parmar model to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for all-cause mortality and to predict residual life expectancy differences.
resultsIn men, socially isolated and lonely individuals had the greatest reduction in residual life expectancy at age 45 years, losing 4.61 years (95% CI: 1.49-7.74) compared to those with neither experience. Social isolation alone (3.82 years lost) and loneliness alone (2.83 years lost) resulted in significant reductions. In women, social isolation alone was significantly associated with reduced residual life expectancy (3.11 years lost, 95% CI: 0.68-5.55), whereas loneliness alone and combined exposure did not show statistically significant effects.
conclusionsSignificant sex-specific differences were identified in the impact of social isolation and loneliness on residual life expectancy. Thus, implementing sex-specific public health strategies that focus on dual psychosocial intervention for men and social integration for women is crucial to mitigate premature deaths in ageing populations.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What 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.