Table 2.
Sample characteristics by loneliness status.
| Characteristics | Study Sample (n=927) |
Lonely (n=272) |
Not Lonely (n=652) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M (SD) | N (%) | M (SD) | N (%) | M (SD) | N (%) | p | |
| Demographics | |||||||
| Age (years) | 51.90 (7.47) | 50.86 (7.30) | 52.35 (7.50) | .006 | |||
| Sex | |||||||
| Male | 394 (42.50) | 116 (42.65) | 278 (42.64) | >.99 | |||
| Female | 533 (57.50) | 156 (57.35) | 374 (57.36) | ||||
| Race | |||||||
| White | 674 (75.14) | 172 (65.90) | 502 (79.30) | <.001† | |||
| Black | 195 (21.74) | 83 (31.80) | 110 (17.38) | ||||
| Multiracial/Other | 28 (3.12) | 6 (2.30) | 21 (3.32) | ||||
| Education | |||||||
| ≤High school | 245 (26.46) | 90 (33.09) | 153 (23.50) | .003 | |||
| ≥Some college | 681 (73.54) | 182 (66.19) | 498 (76.50) | ||||
| Psychosocial | |||||||
| Perceived stress scale score | 22.77 (6.52) | 27.27 (6.41) | 20.91 (5.59) | <.001 | |||
| Social well-being: Social integration | 14.44 (4.22) | 12.74 (4.34) | 15.16 (3.94) | <.001 | |||
| Social support: | |||||||
| Do not ask for help unless have to | 1.93 (0.93) | 1.76 (0.92) | 1.99 (0.92) | <.001 | |||
| Marital status | |||||||
| Married or Living with Someone | 601 (64.90) | 117 (43.01) | 484 (74.35) | <.001 | |||
| Not married or Living with Someone | 325 (35.10) | 155 (56.99) | 167 (25.65) | ||||
| Psychological well-being: | |||||||
| Positive relations with others | 16.30 (4.06) | 14.33 (2.30) | 17.14 (3.63) | <.001 | |||
| Smoking History | |||||||
| Ever smoked cigarettes regularly | 429 (46.33) | 144 (52.94) | 282 (43.32) | .008 | |||
| Never smoked cigarettes regularly | 497 (53.67) | 128 (47.06) | 369 (56.68) | ||||
| Physical Health | |||||||
| Symptoms or chronic conditions | |||||||
| Any | 844 (91.14) | 261 (95.96) | 580 (89.09) | .001 | |||
| None | 82 (8.86) | 11 (4.04) | 71 (10.91) | ||||
| Number | 3.60 (2.76) IQR: 3 |
4.15 (2.91) | 3.36 (2.64) | <.001 | |||
| Blood pressure | |||||||
| Systolic | 129.13 (17.67) | 128.58 (16.68) | 129.39 (18.07) | .52 | |||
| Diastolic | 76.65 (10.72) | 76.97 (10.52) | 76.53 (10.83) | .57 | |||
| Body mass index | 30.05 (7.03) | 31.30 (7.82) | 29.51 (6.61) | <.001 | |||
| Overweight: 25.0-29.9 | 307 (33.19) | 64 (23.62) | 243 (37.33) | <.001† | |||
| Obese: ≥30 | 398 (43.03) | 143 (52.77) | 252 (38.71) | ||||
| Blood biomarkers | |||||||
| L-6 | 2.83 (2.79) | 3.49 (3.46) | 2.54 (2.39) | <.001 | |||
| Fibrinogen | 344.22 (84.93) | 360.35 (90.41) | 336.83 (80.91) | <.001 | |||
| CRP | 3.01 (4.48) | 3.68 (4.76) | 2.63 (3.71) | <.001 | |||
Note. Left justified values are mean and standard deviation: M (SD); Right justified values are number and percent: N (%); p-values obtained from Student’s t test for continuous variables and Pearson’s χ2 for categorical variables;
†
Fisher’s exact for race and body mass index. IQR=Interquartile range, IL-6=Interleukin 6, CRP=C-reactive protein