Loneliness and isolated living status in middle-aged and older adults in Taiwan: exploration on stress-related biomarkers, depressive symptoms, and disability

Abstract

Purpose Loneliness is a subjective feeling by which an individual perceives a lack of closeness in interpersonal relationships. An isolated living status is linked with higher odds of risky health behavior. The conflicting impacts of loneliness and isolated living status on stress-related biomarkers, depressive symptoms, and disability remain unexplained. Methods Six hundred twenty-nine participants aged 66.0 (SD=7.3) separated into four groups: “Lonely and Isolated,” “Not Lonely, but Isolated,” “Lonely, but Not Isolated,” and “Neither Lonely, nor Isolated,” were retrieved from the Social Environment and Biomarkers of Aging Study conducted in 2000. Follow-up health indicators in 2006 included three stress-related biomarkers, depressive symptoms, and two physical disability indicators. A hierarchical regression was performed for the analysis. Results Firstly, compared to the “Neither Lonely nor Isolated” group, only the “Lonely, but Not Isolated” participants at baseline retained positive associations with the stress-related biomarkers levels 6 years later (urine cortisol level (B=9.25, 95% CI=3.24-15.27), serum Interleukin-6 level (B=2.76, 95% CI=0.72-4.79) and the serum high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) level (B=0.40, 95% CI=0.17-0.62)). However, such associations were not observed in the “Lonely and Isolated” participants. Secondly, only “Lonely and Isolated” participants at baseline were positively associated with depressive symptoms 6 years later (B=1.70, 95% CI=0.11-3.30). Finally, the associations between combinations of loneliness and isolated living status and physical disability were eliminated after adjusting the covariables. Conclusion Four combinations of loneliness and isolated living status were associated with different impacts on stress-related biomarkers, depressive symptoms, and physical disability. Further dynamic investigations are warranted.

Development and validation of a depression risk-predicting model for Chinese middle-aged and elderly Chronic Kidney Disease patients

“…The ndings of this study are consistent with the con rmation by several earlier studies that a worse self-reported health condition is a strong predictor of depression [13,34] . For this reason, medical experts ought to stress the need of evaluating the health of CKD patients in their middle and senior years.Furthermore, Our study also found a signi cantly higher risk of depressive symptoms in middle-aged and elderly CKD patients with IADL disability, Indicating that individuals with restrictions on physical exercise are susceptible to experiencing depressed symptoms, which aligns with earlier research [35] , IADL assesses a person's capacity for more complex social interaction and independent living. An IADL impairment may make it more di cult for a person to carry out normal social responsibilities and reduce their chances to go shopping, cleaning, picking up medicines, cooking, or just walking.…”

Flourishing mental health despite disabling chronic pain: Findings from a nationally representative sample of Canadians with arthritis

“…Confidants are an important source of emotional and instrumental support to help promote and maintain positive mental health outcomes [ 33 ]. Older adults who have at least one confidant are less likely to be lonely [ 34 , 35 ]. Furthermore, having a confidant is associated with a wide range of other positive outcomes including fewer physician visits [ 36 ], enhanced immunological functioning [ 37 ], and reduced stress [ 38 ].…”

The Relationship Between Acceptance, Biopsychosocial Factors, and Quality of Life: A Structural Equation Model

“…Thus, loneliness is a unique factor reflecting both psychological and social impacts on QoL. Individuals with different types of disabilities experience a high level of loneliness across different age groups (e.g., Macdonald et al, 2018; Paul et al, 2006; Tsai et al, 2022). The findings of the relationship between loneliness and QoL in this study are consistent with previous research.…”