WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A study published in the journal eClinicalMedicine revealed that adults aged 50 or above, suffering from long-term loneliness, have a 56 percent higher chance of stroke compared to those who were not constantly lonely.
'Loneliness is increasingly considered a major public health issue. Our findings further highlight why that is,' said lead author Yenee Soh, a research associate in the department of social and behavioral sciences at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
'Especially when experienced chronically, our study suggests loneliness may play an important role in stroke incidence, which is already one of the leading causes of long-term disability and mortality worldwide,' Soh added.
The study was based on 2006-2018 data of the University of Michigan's Health and Retirement Study survey. Researchers questioned more than 12,000 participants aged 50 and above about loneliness between 2006 and 2008.
Four years later, from 2010 to 2012, researchers again asked the same questions to around 9,000 participants who were still involved in the study.
Based on the responses, the participants were grouped into four categories - 'consistently low' for those who scored low on the loneliness scales at both times, 'remitting' for those who scored high at first and low at the second, 'recent onset' for those who scored low at first and high at the follow-up, and 'consistently high' for those who scored high at both points.
After excluding social isolation, depressive symptoms, body mass index, physical activity and other health conditions, researchers found that people with chronic loneliness had a 56 percent higher risk of stroke than those who did not report being lonely.
'Since loneliness is a highly subjective experience, seeking help to address and intervene to address a patient's specific personal needs is important. It's important to distinguish loneliness from social isolation,' Soh noted. 'If we fail to address their feelings of loneliness, on a micro and macro scale, there could be profound health consequences.'
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