Loneliness-associated factors among older adults: Focus on friendship type and number of friends.
Yuriko Inoue, Hironobu Hamada, Hisae Nakatani and 1 others
PMID 39828632WHAT IT FOUND
Older adults with fewer than three friends to call for help were significantly more likely to report loneliness.
For women, feeling lonely was also linked to economic worry, poor self-rated health, and having fewer than three friends to confide in.
Key findings
01Having fewer than three close friends to call on for help was associated with loneliness in both men and women.
02In women, loneliness was additionally associated with economic insecurity, poor subjective health, and having fewer than three friends to talk to about private matters.
03Subjective symptoms of dementia were associated with loneliness in both genders.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was conducted in a single rural area in Japan, so results may not generalize to urban populations or other countries. The cross-sectional design means associations were found, but it cannot prove that having few friends causes loneliness. Participants were members of senior clubs and able to complete surveys themselves, which may exclude those with more severe cognitive or physical impairments. Loneliness and health status were measured using self-reported questionnaires, which are subject to recall bias.
Declared interests
The work was supported by JST SPRING and the France Bed Medical Home Care Research Subsidy. The funders had no role in study design, data collection, analysis, or manuscript preparation. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that increasing the number of social activities will automatically reduce loneliness. This study only shows an association at one point in time; it does not prove that having more friends causes less loneliness, nor does it test any intervention.