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. 2021 Sep 17;57(10):1959–1968. doi: 10.1007/s00127-021-02174-x

Table 2.

Prevalence of social isolation in an adult population with regard to sociodemographic factors and stratified by gender (n = 9392)

Total sample Women (n = 4851) Men (n = 4542) Group difference (p value)
Prevalence (%) 95% CI Prevalence (%) 95% CI Prevalence (%) 95% CI
Overall 12.29 11.63–12.96 10.87 10.00–11.75 13.81 12.81–14.81  < .001
Age group  < .001  < .001  < .001
 18–39 5.35 4.65–6.04 3.97 3.12–4.81 6.78 5.67–7.89  < .001
 40–49 12.65 11.14–14.15 11.06 9.01–13.11 14.10 11.92–16.28 .049
 50–59 17.89 15.66–20.12 15.75 12.80–18.71 20.16 16.80–23.52 .049
 60–69 20.72 18.27–23.16 17.64 14.51–20.77 24.35 20.52–28.18 .008
 70–79 21.71 19.45–23.98 20.82 17.88–23.77 22.91 19.37–26.45 .370
Education, n (%)  < .001  < .001  < .001
 Low 24.04 20.91–27.81 24.10 19.88–28.32 23.97 19.26–28.68 .986
 Middle 12.58 11.70–13.46 11.59 10.41–12.75 13.69 12.37–15.02 .019
 High 9.14 8.14–10.14 6.22 5.03–7.42 11.95 10.38–13.53  < .001
Number of people in household, n (%)  < .001  < .001  < .001
 1 15.22 13.82–16.61 14.54 12.66–16.43 15.98 13.90–18.05 .323
 2 13.93 12.89–14.97 11.61 10.28–12.94 16.46 14.85–18.07  < .001
 3 6.05 4.82–7.29 5.79 4.03–7.55 6.29 4.55–8.03 .683
 4 8.30 6.51–10.09 6.75 4.48–9.02 9.97 7.16–12.77 .081
  ≥ 5 3.37 1.01–5.73 1.17 0.01–3.08 6.06 1.37–10.76 .028
Living together with spouse, n (%)  < .001  < .001  < .01
 Yes 11.16 10.37–11.94 9.59 8.5–10.64 12.67 11.51–13.84  < .001
 No 14.42 13.21–15.63 13.00 11.45–14.55 16.25 14.33–18.17 .009
Employment status, n (%)  < .001  < .001  < .001
 Employed 8.52 7.81–9.23 7.11 6.19–8.04 9.95 8.86–11.04  < .001
 Unemployed 14.77 12.99–16.55 12.81 10.40–15.21 16.62 14.02–19.22 .034
 Retired 21.53 19.71–23.34 19.35 17.06–21.65 24.50 21.58–27.43 .007
Net equivalence income (Euros), M (SD)  < .001  < .001  < .001
 1. Quartile (0–1,043.25) 17.22 15.67–18.77 15.49 13.48–17.49 19.32 16.91–21.73 .018
 2. Quartile (1,043.26–1,428.57) 14.81 12.73–15.63 11.88 10.07–13.69 17.07 14.71–19.42  < .001
 3. Quartile (1,428.58–2000.00) 10.41 9.13–11.69 10.15 8.37–11.94 10.67 8.84–12.50 .695
 4. Quartile (≥ 2000.01) 7.99 6.90–9.09 5.44 4.08–6.81 10.12 8.47–11.78  < .001
Socioeconomic status  < .001  < .001  < .001
 Low 18.61 16.92–20.31 16.51 14.32–18.69 21.19 18.53–23.85  < .001
 Middle 11.82 10.96–12.67 10.65 9.53–11.77 13.14 11.82–14.41  < .001
 High 7.22 6.00–8.44 4.38 2.95–5.82 9.57 7.70–11.44  < .001