TABLE 1.
Differences in Demographic and Clinical Characteristics Between the Loneliness Groups
| Total Sample (n = 606) |
Nonlonely (47.0% [n = 285]) |
Lonely (53.0% [n = 321]) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | % (No.) | % (No.) | % (No.) | Statistics |
|
| ||||
| Demographic and clinical characteristics | ||||
| Age, y | 62.7 (10.9) | 64.3 (10.7) | 61.4 (11.0) | t = 3.28, P = .001 |
| No. of people in your household including yourself | 2.1 (1.01) | 2.1 (0.9) | 2.2 (1.1) | t = −0.50, P = .615 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 26.8 (5.9) | 26.3 (5.3) | 27.2 (6.4) | t = −1.95, P = .052 |
| Karnofsky Performance Status score | 91.7 (9.7) | 93.1 (8.5) | 90.5 (10.6) | t = 3.36, P = .001 |
| No. of comorbidities | 1.9 (1.5) | 1.6 (1.5) | 2.1 (1.6) | t = −3.29, P = .001 |
| Self-administered Comorbidity Questionnaire score | 3.8 (3.5) | 3.2 (3.2) | 4.4 (3.6) | t = −4.01, P < .001 |
| Time since cancer diagnosis, y | 9.6 (7.4) | 9.9 (7.6) | 9.4 (7.2) | t = 0.77, P = .443 |
| No. of previous cancer treatments | 2.9 (1.1) | 2.9 (1.1) | 3.0 (1.1) | t = −0.81, P = .421 |
| No. of current cancer treatments | 0.4 (0.7) | 0.4 (0.6) | 0.5 (0.7) | t = −0.59, P = .555 |
| % (No.) | % (No.) | % (No.) | ||
| Female (% yes) | 91.8 (551) | 90.8 (256) | 92.8 (295) | FE P = .456 |
| Living arrangements | χ2 = 0.99, P = .611 | |||
| Private home or apartment | 99.0 (599) | 99.3 (282) | 98.8 (317) | |
| Assisted living facility | 0.2 (1) | 0.0 (0) | 0.3 (1) | |
| Other | 0.8 (5) | 0.7 (2) | 0.9 (3) | |
| Lives alone (% yes) | 23.7 (143) | 18.2 (52) | 28.5 (91) | FE, P = .003 |
| Married/partnered (% yes) | 69.0 (418) | 76.8 (219) | 62.0 (199) | FE, P < .001 |
| Race/ethnicity | FE, P = .712 | |||
| White | 87.6 (531) | 87.0 (248) | 88.2 (283) | |
| Non-White | 12.4 (75) | 13.0 (37) | 11.8 (38) | |
| Highest level of education | U, P = .719 | |||
| Grade school | 0.2 (1) | 0.4 (1) | 0.0 (0) | |
| High school | 2.3 (14) | 1.4 (4) | 3.1 (10) | |
| Some college | 15.0 (91) | 13.7 (39) | 16.3 (52) | |
| College graduate | 25.8 (156) | 28.4 (81) | 23.4 (75) | |
| Some graduate school | 11.6 (70) | 10.9 (31) | 12.2 (39) | |
| Advanced degree | 45.1 (273) | 45.3 (129) | 45.0 (144) | |
| Currently employed (% yes) | 41.9 (252) | 41.1 (116) | 42.6 (136) | FE, P = .741 |
| Annual household income | U, P < .001 | |||
| <$20,000 | 3.7 (18) | 2.7 (6) | 4.5 (12) | |
| $20,000 to $59,000 | 18.2 (89) | 11.6 (26) | 23.8 (63) | |
| $60,000 to $100,000 | 21.5 (105) | 21.0 (47) | 21.9 (58) | |
| >$100,000 | 56.6 (277) | 64.7 (145) | 49.8 (132) | |
| Chronic conditions (% yes) | ||||
| Heart disease | 9.9 (59) | 10.7 (30) | 9.2 (29) | FE, P = .584 |
| High blood pressure | 30.3 (182) | 31.0 (88) | 29.7 (94) | FE, P = .723 |
| Lung disease | 6.0 (36) | 6.0 (17) | 6.0 (19) | FE, P = 1.000 |
| Diabetes | 5.5 (33) | 4.3 (12) | 6.6 (21) | FE, P = .215 |
| Ulcer or stomach disease | 3.9 (23) | 2.5 (7) | 5.1 (16) | FE, P = .135 |
| Kidney disease | 2.0 (12) | 3.2 (9) | 1.0 (3) | FE, P = .077 |
| Liver disease | 1.7 (10) | 1.4 (4) | 1.9 (6) | FE, P = .755 |
| Anemia or blood disease | 5.9 (35) | 3.9 (11) | 7.7 (24) | FE, P = .057 |
| Depression | 26.4 (156) | 13.0 (36) | 38.1 (120) | FE, P < .001 |
| Osteoarthritis, degenerative arthritis | 32.6 (195) | 33.6 (95) | 31.6 (100) | FE, P = .662 |
| Back pain | 32.9 (196) | 28.6 (80) | 36.8 (116) | FE, P = .036 |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 3.3 (19) | 2.2 (6) | 4.3 (13) | FE, P = .166 |
| Cancer diagnosis | χ2 = 7.69, P = .262 | |||
| Breast cancer | 82.8 (496) | 79.4 (224) | 85.5 (272) | |
| Gastrointestinal | 4.7 (28) | 5.7 (16) | 3.8 (12) | |
| Lung | 0.2 (1) | 0.0 (0) | 0.3 (1) | |
| Malignant melanoma | 0.2 (1) | 0.4 (1) | 0.0 (0) | |
| Gynecological | 1.5 (9) | 1.4 (4) | 1.6 (5) | |
| Prostate | 3.7 (22) | 3.9 (11) | 3.5 (11) | |
| Multiple or other | 7.0 (42) | 9.2 (26) | 5.0 (16) | |
| Presence of metastatic disease (% yes) | 25.4 (150) | 24.9 (69) | 25.8 (81) | FE, P = .850 |
| Currently receiving cancer treatment (% yes) | 36.6 (222) | 36.8 (105) | 36.4 (117) | FE, P = .933 |
| Tested for COVID-19 | χ2 = 1.36, P = .714 | |||
| No | 76.0 (458) | 76.1 (217) | 75.8 (241) | |
| Yes and tested negative | 23.4 (141) | 23.2 (66) | 23.6 (75) | |
| Yes and tested positive | 0.5 (3) | 0.4 (1) | 0.6 (2) | |
| Yes and prefer not to report my results | 0.2 (1) | 0.4 (1) | 0.0 (0) | |
| Loneliness and social isolation scores | ||||
| Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | ||
| UCLA Loneliness Scale (≥36) | 38.9 (12.0) | 28.6 (4.0) | 48.1 (8.9) | t = −35.72, P < .001 |
| Social Isolation Scale (≤9 is social isolation; 10–15 at risk for social isolation) | 22.8 (4.2) | 25.5 (2.7) | 20.5 (3.9) | t = 18.40, P < .001 |
Abbreviations: FE, Fisher’s exact; SD, standard deviation; U, Mann-Whitney U test.