Loneliness as a risk factor for metabolic syndrome: results from the HUNT study

Henriksen, Roger Ekeberg; Nilsen, Roy Miodini; Strandberg, Ragnhild Bjarkøy

doi:10.1136/jech-2019-212335

Cited by 28 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Previous research indicates that loneliness has a reciprocal relationship with depression [26]. Depression is also a possible pathway through which loneliness impacts cardiometabolic health [10], with a large body of evidence suggesting that depressed individuals are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those without depression [27]. Given this, we considered depressive symptoms in our analyses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Loneliness is associated with ageing [ 2 , 3 ] and obesity [ 8 ], both of which are major risk factors for type 2 diabetes [ 9 ]. Further, evidence from large observational cohort studies indicates that loneliness is associated both cross-sectionally [ 8 ] and prospectively [ 10 ] with the metabolic syndrome. However, studies associating loneliness with HbA 1c have been less consistent [ 11 , 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Loneliness and type 2 diabetes incidence: findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

2020

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Aims/hypothesis Loneliness is associated with all-cause mortality and coronary heart disease. However, the prospective relationship between loneliness and type 2 diabetes onset is unclear. Methods We conducted a longitudinal observational population study with data on 4112 diabetes-free participants (mean age 65.02 ± 9.05) from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Loneliness was assessed in 2004–2005 using the revised University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale. Incident type 2 diabetes cases were assessed from 2006 to 2017. Associations were modelled using Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusting for potential confounders, which included cardiometabolic comorbidities. Results A total of 264 (6.42%) participants developed type 2 diabetes over the follow-up period. Loneliness was a significant predictor of incident type 2 diabetes (HR 1.46; 95% CI 1.15, 1.84; p = 0.002) independent of age, sex, ethnicity, wealth, smoking status, physical activity, alcohol consumption, BMI, HbA1c, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Further analyses detected an association between loneliness and type 2 diabetes onset (HR 1.41; 95% CI 1.04, 1.90; p = 0.027), independent of depressive symptoms, living alone and social isolation. Living alone and social isolation were not significantly associated with type 2 diabetes onset. Conclusions/interpretation Loneliness is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. The mechanisms underlying this relationship remain to be elucidated.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Loneliness and type 2 diabetes incidence: findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

2020

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“…Therefore, loneliness has become one of the major public health concerns during the pandemic [2]. Evidence from empirical studies has shown that loneliness is an important risk factor for a myriad of deleterious physical and mental consequences, including early mortality, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, suicidal behaviors, depressive symptoms, and cognitive decline [3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Similarly, during this pandemic, population-based studies have demonstrated significant associations of feelings of loneliness with increased risk of depression, anxiety, psychological distress, poor sleep, alcohol and drug use, and poor quality of life [10][11][12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feelings of loneliness and mental health needs and services utilization among Chinese residents during the COVID-19 epidemic

Bao

Zhong

2021

Global Health

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Background Due to the implementation of social distancing and quarantine measures, loneliness has been a major public health concern during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, few studies have examined loneliness in Chinese residents during the COVID-19 epidemic, as well as its associations with mental health needs and services utilization. Methods The present study was a cross-sectional survey during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. A total of 7741 adults were invited and completed an online self-administered questionnaire. The Chinese 12-item General Health Questionnaire was used to screen for common mental health problems, loneliness was measured with a single-item self-report question (“How often do you feel lonely in recent days?”), and two standardized questions were used to assess perceived needs for and use of mental health services. Results In total, 24.2 % of the participants felt lonely in recent days. Age of 16–29 years (OR = 1.36, P = 0.020), marital status of never-married (OR = 1.47, P < 0.001), marital status of “others” (re-married, co-habiting, separated, divorced, and widowed) (OR = 1.72, P < 0.001), having infected family members or close relatives (OR = 1.64, P = 0.026), and having infected colleagues, friends, or classmates (OR = 1.62, P < 0.001) were significant correlates of loneliness. Rates of mental health needs (17.4 % vs. 4.9 %, P < 0.001) and services utilization (2.7 % vs. 1.0 %, P < 0.001) were significantly higher in lonely than not lonely participants. After adjusting for socio-demographic and epidemic characteristics and common mental health problems, loneliness was still significantly associated with mental health needs (OR = 2.50, P < 0.001) and services utilization (OR = 1.62, P = 0.020). Conclusions Feelings of loneliness are prevalent among Chinese residents affected by the COVID-19 epidemic and the presence of loneliness is associated with high levels of mental health needs and greater services utilization. Effective measures aiming at preventing or reducing loneliness are potentially beneficial for the mental wellbeing of COVID-19-affected population and reducing the use of the limited mental health service resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“…A burgeoning evidence base lends support to these statements, linking loneliness and social isolation to an array of physical and mental health issues. The issues include: depression, anxiety and stress ; poor health behaviours (Hawkley et al, 2009); poor cardiovascular health (Hawkley et al, 2006; poor sleep quality (Kurina et al, 2011;Pressman et al, 2005); more severe common cold symptoms (LeRoy et al, 2017); poor physical health status (Richard et al, 2017); increased risk for metabolic syndrome (Henriksen et al, 2019) and increased risk for mortality (Luo et al, 2012). Overall, this evidence base indicates that loneliness exerts a powerful influence on health.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A meta-analysis of loneliness and use of primary health care

Sirois

Owens

2021

Health Psychology Review

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Loneliness is a growing public health concern that is associated with a range of negative health outcomes. The extent to which loneliness may also be associated with greater use of primary health care remains unclear. The present meta-analysis aimed to address this gap by quantifying research on the association of loneliness to primary health care use. The database searches yielded 23 eligible studies with 25 effects, total N = 113,639. A random effects meta-analysis revealed a small positive average effect size (r avg = .094; 95% CI [.07, .12])between loneliness and the use of primary care that increased in magnitude as the proportion of females in the samples increased. Studies that used objective measures of primary care use yielded effects that were significantly larger than those using self-report measures. The effects were robust to differences in age and type of health-care systems, and the type of loneliness scale (single versus multi-item). The findings from this first comprehensive meta-analysis of the association of loneliness with use of primary care indicate that people who experience loneliness make a greater number of visits to primary-care practitioners. This evidence highlights the practical impact of loneliness on health-care use when viewed at the population level.

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Loneliness as a risk factor for metabolic syndrome: results from the HUNT study

Cited by 28 publications

References 40 publications

Loneliness and type 2 diabetes incidence: findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Loneliness and type 2 diabetes incidence: findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Feelings of loneliness and mental health needs and services utilization among Chinese residents during the COVID-19 epidemic

A meta-analysis of loneliness and use of primary health care

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