Table 3.
The association of loneliness and a feeling of increased social isolation with pain intensity.
| Degree of loneliness | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| None (3 points) n = 14,277 |
Mild (4–5 points) (n = 3250) |
Moderate-to-severe (6–15 points) n = 7955 |
P for trend | ||||||||
| Adjusted mean | SE | Adjusted mean | SE | Adjusted mean | SE | ||||||
| Pain intensity for total participants, n = 25,482 | |||||||||||
| Model 1 | 1.3 | 0.01 | 1.5*** | 0.01 | 1.7*** | 0.01 | < 0.001 | ||||
| Model 2 | 1.3 | 0.01 | 1.5*** | 0.01 | 1.6*** | 0.01 | < 0.001 | ||||
| Pain intensity for participants with any pain symptoms, n = 15,541 | |||||||||||
| Model 1 | 1.5 | 0.01 | 1.6*** | 0.02 | 1.8*** | 0.01 | < 0.001 | ||||
| Model 2 | 1.5 | 0.01 | 1.6*** | 0.01 | 1.8*** | 0.01 | < 0.001 | ||||
| Frequency of feelings of increased social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Never n = 18,168 | Rarely n = 3188 | Sometimes n = 2454 | Often n = 1033 | Always n = 639 | P for trend | ||||||
| Adjusted mean | SE | Adjusted mean | SE | Adjusted mean | SE | Adjusted mean | SE | Adjusted mean | SE | ||
| Pain intensity total participants, n = 25,482 | |||||||||||
| Model 1 | 1.4 | 0.01 | 1.5*** | 0.01 | 1.6*** | 0.01 | 1.8*** | 0.02 | 2.0*** | 0.03 | < 0.001 |
| Model 2 | 1.4 | 0.01 | 1.5*** | 0.01 | 1.6*** | 0.01 | 1.7*** | 0.02 | 1.8*** | 0.03 | < 0.001 |
| Pain intensity for participants with any pain symptoms, n = 15,541 | |||||||||||
| Model 1 | 1.5 | 0.01 | 1.7*** | 0.02 | 1.8*** | 0.02 | 2.0*** | 0.03 | 2.1*** | 0.03 | < 0.001 |
| Model 2 | 1.6 | 0.01 | 1.7*** | 0.01 | 1.8*** | 0.02 | 1.9*** | 0.03 | 2.0*** | 0.03 | < 0.001 |
Model 1: Adjusted for age and sex.
Model 2: Adjusted for age, sex, educational level, marital status, living alone, employment status, equivalized income, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity, sleep duration, history of depression, and history of mental illnesses other than depression.
COVID-19 coronavirus disease 2019, OR odds ratio, CI confidence interval.
Loneliness was measured using the Japanese version of the University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (Version 3), Short Form 3-item assessment tool.
Pain symptoms were headache, neck/shoulder pain, upper limb pain, low back pain, leg pain, or the presence of chronic pain.
P values were calculated to compare participants who without loneliness / did not feel increased social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic at all to those in the other categories using the analysis of covariance with Dunnett's test.
***p < 0.001. n = 25,482.