Table 1.
Social isolation, loneliness, and risk factors
| Patient characteristics | Social isolation | P value | Loneliness | P value | ||
| Low/average (n = 5,269) (%) | High (n = 1,231) (%) | Low/average (n = 5,325) (%) | High (n =1,175) (%) | |||
| Sex | ||||||
| Male | 2,378 (45.1) | 575 (46.7) | 0.32 | 2,522 (47.4) | 431 (36.7) | <0.001 |
| Female | 2,891 (54.9) | 656 (53.3) | 2,803 (52.6) | 744 (63.3) | ||
| Age (y) | ||||||
| <60 | 1,709 (32.4) | 353 (28.7) | <0.001 | 1,719 (32.3) | 343 (29.2) | <0.001 |
| 60–69 | 1,888 (35.8) | 359 (29.2) | 1,904 (35.8) | 343 (29.2) | ||
| 70–79 | 1,219 (23.1) | 325 (26.4) | 1,248 (23.4) | 296 (25.2) | ||
| 80+ | 453 (8.6) | 194 (15.8) | 454 (8.5) | 193 (16.4) | ||
| Education | ||||||
| No qualifications | 1,675 (31.8) | 572 (46.5) | <0.001 | 1,733 (32.5) | 514 (43.7) | <0.001 |
| Intermediate | 2,099 (39.8) | 435 (35.3) | 2,101 (39.5) | 433 (36.9) | ||
| Higher education | 1,495 (28.4) | 224 (18.2) | 1,491 (28.0) | 228 (19.4) | ||
| Ethnicity (White) | 5,202 (98.7) | 1,217 (98.9) | 0.78 | 5,266 (98.9) | 1,153 (98.1) | 0.041 |
| Wealth quintile | ||||||
| 1 (lowest) | 720 (13.7) | 382 (31.0) | <0.001 | 793 (14.9) | 309 (26.3) | <0.001 |
| 2 | 990 (18.8) | 270 (21.9) | 984 (18.5) | 276 (23.5) | ||
| 3 | 1,101 (20.9) | 223 (18.1) | 1,095 (20.6) | 229 (19.5) | ||
| 4 | 1,208 (22.9) | 183 (14.9) | 1,191 (22.4) | 200 (17.0) | ||
| 5 (highest) | 1,250 (23.7) | 173 (14.1) | 1,262 (23.7) | 161 (13.7) | ||
| Married | 4,089 (77.6) | 388 (31.5) | <0.001 | 3,971 (74.6) | 506 (43.1) | <0.001 |
| Limiting long-standing illness | 1,629 (30.9) | 485 (39.4) | <0.001 | 1,540 (28.9) | 574 (48.9) | <0.001 |
| Cancer | 168 (3.2) | 36 (2.9) | 0.72 | 171 (3.2) | 33 (2.8) | 0.52 |
| Diabetes | 332 (6.3) | 89 (7.2) | 0.25 | 332 (6.2) | 89 (7.6) | 0.10 |
| CHD | 193 (3.7) | 43 (3.5) | 0.87 | 176 (3.3) | 60 (5.1) | 0.004 |
| Chronic lung disease | 65 (1.2) | 34 (2.8) | <0.001 | 71 (1.3) | 28 (2.4) | 0.012 |
| Stroke | 134 (2.5) | 43 (3.5) | 0.079 | 117 (2.2) | 60 (5.1) | <0.001 |
| Arthritis | 1,778 (33.7) | 477 (38.7) | 0.001 | 1,714 (32.3) | 541 (46.0) | <0.001 |
| Mobility impairment | 2,940 (55.8) | 769 (62.5) | <0.001 | 2871(53.9) | 838 (71.3) | <0.001 |
| Clinical depression | 77 (1.5) | 21(1.7) | 0.52 | 59 (1.1) | 39 (3.3) | <0.001 |
| Depression symptoms above threshold | 883 (16.8) | 338 (27.5) | <0.001 | 690 (13.0) | 531 (45.2) | <0.001 |