Table 1.
Characteristics of the whole sample and sample characteristics by loneliness subgroups (n = 7,148)
| Loneliness (n = 7,148)a | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variables | Whole sample (n = 7,148) | Not (n = 4,956, 69.3%) | Transient (n = 739, 10.3%) | Incident (n = 633, 8.9%) | Chronic (n = 820, 11.5%) | Test statisticsb | p-valuec |
| Age (years), M ± SD | 66.2 ± 8.5 | 66.6 ± 8.4 | 65.2 ± 8.7 | 66.2 ± 8.7 | 64.5 ± 8.5 | F (3, 7144) = 17.4 | ) <0.001 |
| Women, n (%) | 4,266 (58.7) | 2,856 (57.6) | 462 (62.5) | 416 (65.7) | 532 (64.9) | χ2 (3) = 28.0 | <0.001 |
| Race/ethnicity, n1/n (%) | χ2 (9) = 59.6 | <0.001 | |||||
| Non-Hispanic | 5,858/7,148 | 4,159/5,858 | 555/5,858 | 512/5,858 (8.7) | 632/5,858 | ||
| White | (82.0) | (71.0) | (9.5) | (10.8) | |||
| Non-Hispanic | 686/7,148 | 419/686 | 91/686 | 67/686 (9.8) | 109/686 | ||
| Black | (9.6) | (61.1) | (13.3) | (15.9) | |||
| Hispanic | 454/7,148 (6.3) | 288/454 (63.4) | 72/454 (15.9) | 39/454 (8.6) | 55/454 (12.1) | ||
| Others | 150/7,148 (2.1) | 90/150 (60.0) | 21/150 (14.0) | 15/150 (10.0) | 24/150 (16.0) | ||
| Married, n (%) | 1,881 (26.3) | 1,084 (21.9) | 282 (38.2) | 182 (28.8) | 333 (40.6) | χ2 (3) = 194.8 | <0.001 |
| Education (school years), n 1/n (%) | χ2 (6) = 43.3 | <0.001 | |||||
| 0–11 | 1,031/7,148 (14.4) | 628/1,031 (60.9) | 139/1,031 (13.5) | 115/1,031(11.2) | 149/1,031 (14.5) | ||
| 12 | 2,512/7,148 (35.2) | 1,743/2,512 (69.4) | 254/2,512 (10.1) | 218/2,512 (8.7) | 297/2,512 (118) | ||
| 13+ | 3,605/7,148 (50.4) | 2,585/3,605 (71.7) | 346/3,605 (9.6) | 300/2,585 (8.3) | 374/3,605 (10.4) | ||
| Household income, n1/n (%) | χ2 (9) = 135.6 | <0.001 | |||||
| 1st quartile | 1,790/7,148 (25.0) | 1,070/1,790 (59.8) | 238/1,790 (13.3) | 184/1,790 (10.3) | 298/1,790 (16.6) | ||
| 2nd quartile | 1,784/7,148 (25.0) | 1,225/1,784 (68.7) | 194/1,784 (10.9) | 163/1,784 (9.11) | 202/1,784 (113) | ||
| 3rd quartile | 1,787/7,148 (25.0) | 1,300/1,787 (72.8) | 167/1,787 (9.3) | 148/1,787 (8.3) | 172/1,787 (9.6) | ||
| 4th quartile | 1,787/7,148 (25.0) | 1,361/1,787 (76.2) | 140/1,787 (7.8) | 138/1,787 (7.7) | 148/1,787 (8.3) | ||
| Current smoker, n (%) | 780 (10.9) | 482 (9.7) | 94 (12.7) | 82 (13.0) | 122 (14.9) | χ2 (3) = 26.6 | <0.001 |
| Current heavy drinker, n (%) | 1,055 (14.8) | 805 (16.3) | 97 (13.1) | 75 (11.9) | 78 (9.5) | χ2 (3) = 32.2 | <0.001 |
| CES-D (ranges 07), M (SD) | 0.9 ± 1.4 | 0.6 ± 1.1 | 1.4 ± 1.8 | 1.0 ± 1.5 | 1.9 ± 2.1 | F (3, 7144) = 251.4 | <0.001 |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 3,900 (54.7) | 2,669 (54.0) | 408 (55.5) | 338 (53.7) | 485 (59.4) | χ2 (3) = 8.0 | 0.046 |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 1,173 (16.4) | 739 (14.9) | 133 (18.0) | 122 (19.4) | 179 (21.9) | χ2 (3) = 30.1 | <0.001 |
| Heart diseases, n (%) | 1,429 (20.1) | 994 (20.1) | 134 (18.2) | 130 (20.6) | 171 (21.0) | χ2 (3) = 2.2 | 0.533 |
| Self-rated health (ranges 1–5), M (SD) | 2.5 ± 1.0 | 2.4 ± 0.9 | 2.7 ± 1.0 | 2.7 ± 1.0 | 2.9 ± 1.0 | F (3, 7144) = 82.2 | <0.001 |
| Follow-up characteristic | |||||||
| New-onset ADL disability at follow-up, n (%) | 1,298 (18.2) | 783 (15.8) | 161 (21.8) | 145 (23.1) | 208 (25.4) | χ2 (3) = 69.4 | <0.001 |
| New-onset IADL disability at follow-up, n (%) | 1,260 (17.6) | 788 (15.9) | 162 (21.9) | 138 (21.8) | 172 (21.0) | χ2 (3) = 34.1 | <0.001 |
Notes:
The four loneliness subgroups were defined as: no loneliness = respondents did not report loneliness at either T1 (2006/2008) or T2 (2010/2012, baseline); transient loneliness = respondents reported loneliness only T1; incident loneliness = respondents reported loneliness only at T2; chronic loneliness = respondents reported loneliness at both T1 and T2.
F (degree of freedom)/χ2 (degree of freedom).
P-values derived from ANOVA for continuous variables and Pearson’s χ2 tests for categorical variables. Abbreviations: M = Mean; SD = Standard Deviation; ADL = Activities of Daily Living; IADL = Instrumental Activities of Daily Living; CESD = Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale score without the loneliness item.