Observational studyBMJ open2025
Routine loneliness screening in adults with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in a large national health plan: a retrospective cohort study.
Observational study in BMJ open, 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
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo investigate the association between loneliness and all-cause mortality and inpatient hospitalisation among adults with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) in a real-world setting, and to explore the potential implications of routine loneliness screening. The primary hypothesis was that loneliness is associated with increased all-cause mortality.
designObservational retrospective cohort study.
settingAnalysis of linked administrative claims and routinely collected loneliness screening data from a large health plan.
participants7484 adult health plan members with documented ASCVD and ≥10 months of continuous enrolment around the screening date. Selection criteria included ASCVD diagnosis and sufficient enrolment for baseline assessment. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measure was 365-day all-cause mortality. The secondary outcome measure was the 365-day all-cause inpatient hospitalisation rate.
results881 deaths occurred during follow-up (18% in the lonely group vs 11% in the non-lonely group). The lonely group had a lower proportion of men (54% vs 65%, p<0.01) and a slightly older mean age (68.4 (SD 12.7) vs 67.5 (SD 12.6), p<0.05) compared with the non-lonely group. Among the lonely, adjusted survival models showed a statistically significant 33% increase in all-cause relative mortality risk, which is a 3% absolute increase in mortality (HR 1.33, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.62). Adjusted Poisson models indicated a similar statistically significant increase in inpatient stays of 17 per 1000 person-years among the lonely, reflecting a 39% relative increase in risk (incidence rate ratio 1.39, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.66).
conclusionsOur findings corroborate the association between loneliness and morbidity and mortality among those with known ASCVD. The effect for loneliness was similar in magnitude to clinical comorbidities and smoking, suggesting that routine screening for loneliness may provide valuable information for assessing and managing the risk of death among patients with ASCVD.
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.