Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The British Journal of General Practice logoLink to The British Journal of General Practice
. 1999 May;49(442):363–367.

Someone to talk to? The role of loneliness as a factor in the frequency of GP consultations.

A Ellaway 1, S Wood 1, S Macintyre 1
PMCID: PMC1313421  PMID: 10736886

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There are many reasons why people frequently consult their general practitioner (GP). Although loneliness is increasingly recognized as a problem affecting well-being for elderly people, it has rarely been addressed as a predictor of frequency of consultation. AIM: To examine whether loneliness is associated with rates of GP consultations (home and surgery visits). METHOD: Analysis of data collected in face-to-face interviews at the second wave of a longitudinal health survey of two adult age cohorts living in four socially contrasting urban localities in Glasgow City. There were a total of 691 subjects: 142 males and 176 females aged 40 years at interview; and 167 males and 206 females aged 60 years at interview. Frequency of reported GP consultations in the past 12 months at home or in the surgery was examined. RESULTS: After controlling for sociodemographic and socioeconomic variables and health, loneliness was significantly associated with frequency of consultation at the surgery but not with the frequency of home visits. CONCLUSION: Loneliness may still be underestimated as a factor related independently to frequency of consultations with a GP at the surgery.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (47.5 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Baker D., Taylor H. Inequality in health and health service use for mothers of young children in south west England. Survey Team of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood Team. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1997 Feb;51(1):74–79. doi: 10.1136/jech.51.1.74. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Ben-Shlomo Y., White I., McKeigue P. M. Prediction of general practice workload from census based social deprivation scores. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1992 Oct;46(5):532–536. doi: 10.1136/jech.46.5.532. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bentham G., Haynes R. Evaluation of a mobile branch surgery in a rural area. Soc Sci Med. 1992 Jan;34(1):97–102. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(92)90071-w. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Boot D., Gillies P., Fenelon J., Reubin R., Wilkins M., Gray P. Evaluation of the short-term impact of counseling in general practice. Patient Educ Couns. 1994 Aug;24(1):79–89. doi: 10.1016/0738-3991(94)90028-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bucquet D., Curtis S. Socio-demographic variation in perceived illness and the use of primary care: the value of community survey data for primary care service planning. Soc Sci Med. 1986;23(7):737–744. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(86)90122-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Campbell S. M., Roland M. O. Why do people consult the doctor? Fam Pract. 1996 Feb;13(1):75–83. doi: 10.1093/fampra/13.1.75. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Carr-Hill R. A., Rice N., Roland M. Socioeconomic determinants of rates of consultation in general practice based on fourth national morbidity survey of general practices. BMJ. 1996 Apr 20;312(7037):1008–1012. doi: 10.1136/bmj.312.7037.1008. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Chappell N. L., Badger M. Social isolation and well-being. J Gerontol. 1989 Sep;44(5):S169–S176. doi: 10.1093/geronj/44.5.s169. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Chaturvedi N., Ben-Shlomo Y. From the surgery to the surgeon: does deprivation influence consultation and operation rates? Br J Gen Pract. 1995 Mar;45(392):127–131. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Donaldson J. M., Watson R. Loneliness in elderly people: an important area for nursing research. J Adv Nurs. 1996 Nov;24(5):952–959. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.1996.tb02931.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Ellaway A., Macintyre S. Does housing tenure predict health in the UK because it exposes people to different levels of housing related hazards in the home or its surroundings? Health Place. 1998 Jun;4(2):141–150. doi: 10.1016/s1353-8292(98)00006-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hart J. T. The inverse care law. Lancet. 1971 Feb 27;1(7696):405–412. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(71)92410-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Harvey I., Nelson S. J., Lyons R. A., Unwin C., Monaghan S., Peters T. J. A randomized controlled trial and economic evaluation of counselling in primary care. Br J Gen Pract. 1998 Mar;48(428):1043–1048. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Haynes R. Inequalities in health and health service use: evidence from the General Household Survey. Soc Sci Med. 1991;33(4):361–368. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(91)90317-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Ingham J. G., Miller P. M. Self-referral to primary care: symptoms and social factors. J Psychosom Res. 1986;30(1):49–56. doi: 10.1016/0022-3999(86)90065-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Macintyre S., Ellaway A., Der G., Ford G., Hunt K. Do housing tenure and car access predict health because they are simply markers of income or self esteem? A Scottish study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1998 Oct;52(10):657–664. doi: 10.1136/jech.52.10.657. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Pini S., Piccinelli M., Zimmermann-Tansella C. Social problems as factors affecting medical consultation: a comparison between general practice attenders and community probands with emotional distress. Psychol Med. 1995 Jan;25(1):33–41. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700028063. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Robinson J. O., Granfield A. J. The frequent consulter in primary medical care. J Psychosom Res. 1986;30(5):589–600. doi: 10.1016/0022-3999(86)90032-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Speirs R., Jewell J. A. One counsellor, two practices: report of a pilot scheme in Cambridgeshire. Br J Gen Pract. 1995 Jan;45(390):31–33. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Spence S. J. Problems that patients feel are appropriate to discuss with their GPs. J R Soc Med. 1992 Nov;85(11):669–673. doi: 10.1177/014107689208501106. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Sundquist J., Johansson S. E. Self reported poor health and low educational level predictors for mortality: a population based follow up study of 39,156 people in Sweden. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1997 Feb;51(1):35–40. doi: 10.1136/jech.51.1.35. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Valori R., Woloshynowych M., Bellenger N., Aluvihare V., Salmon P. The Patient Requests Form: a way of measuring what patients want from their general practitioner. J Psychosom Res. 1996 Jan;40(1):87–94. doi: 10.1016/0022-3999(95)00548-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Warnes A. M., Armstrong G. K., Peters D. Population predictors of community health and social service use in Northern Ireland. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1997 Dec;51(6):722–730. doi: 10.1136/jech.51.6.722. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Westhead J. N. Frequent attenders in general practice: medical, psychological and social characteristics. J R Coll Gen Pract. 1985 Jul;35(276):337–340. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Whitehouse C. R. Effect of distance from surgery on consultation rates in an urban practice. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1985 Feb 2;290(6465):359–362. doi: 10.1136/bmj.290.6465.359. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Wolff S. P., Gillham C. J. Public health versus public policy? An appraisal of British urban transport policy. Public Health. 1991 May;105(3):217–228. doi: 10.1016/s0033-3506(05)80111-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Wyke S., Campbell G., Maciver S. Provision of, and patient satisfaction with, primary care services in a relatively affluent area and a relatively deprived area of Glasgow. Br J Gen Pract. 1992 Jul;42(360):271–275. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Zigmond A. S., Snaith R. P. The hospital anxiety and depression scale. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1983 Jun;67(6):361–370. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1983.tb09716.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. van de Kar A., Knottnerus A., Meertens R., Dubois V., Kok G. Why do patients consult the general practitioner? Determinants of their decision. Br J Gen Pract. 1992 Aug;42(361):313–316. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The British Journal of General Practice are provided here courtesy of Royal College of General Practitioners

RESOURCES