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 Social isolation has long been linked to worse health outcomes and
shortened life spans, particularly among older adults with complex
chronic health problems like heart disease. But it hasn't been clear
whether the connection between loneliness and longevity might vary
based on the type of heart problems people have, researchers note in
the journal Heart.
For the current study, researchers analyzed survey responses from
13,446 hospitalized patients with heart disease, rhythm disorders,
heart failure or valve disease before they were sent home, then used
registry data to follow each person's fate for one year. Overall,
they found that women who had reported feeling lonely were almost
three times as likely as those who hadn't to die during the
follow-up period, and lonely men were more than twice as likely to
die.
"A strong association between loneliness and poor patient-reported
outcomes and 1-year mortality was found in both men and women across
cardiac diagnoses," Anne Vinggaard Christensen of Copenhagen
University Hospital in Denmark and colleagues write.
"The results suggest that loneliness should be a priority for public
health initiatives, and should also be included in clinical risk
assessment in cardiac patients," Vinggaard Christensen and
colleagues write.
Study participants' average age was 66 when they were hospitalized
between 2013 and 2014, and about two thirds were men.
Before participants left the hospital, researchers surveyed them
about their physical health, psychological wellbeing, quality of
life, and levels of anxiety and depression.
Researchers also quizzed people about lifestyle behaviors that can
impact health including how often they smoked, drank or took their
prescribed medicines. And researchers looked at whether patients
lived alone or with other people.
Patients who said they felt lonely were nearly three times as likely
to also be anxious and depressed and to report a significantly lower
quality of life as those who said they didn't feel lonely.
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Loneliness was associated with significantly poorer physical health
after a year.
Among men only, living alone was also associated with a 39% higher
risk of cardiac events like heart attack during the follow-up
period, the study also found.
Previous studies indicate that women have larger social networks
than men, so separation, divorce, or the death of a partner may
disadvantage men more, the researchers write.
The study wasn't designed to prove whether or how loneliness
directly impacts survival odds for people with different types of
heart problems. It's also possible that results from the
predominantly male and white study population may not reflect what
would happen in other groups of patients.
Moreover, it's not clear whether loneliness preceded illness or
people became more lonely or isolated after they developed health
problems, the study team notes.
However, the results build on previous research suggesting that
loneliness may negatively impact cardiovascular health, hormonal
health and immune function and lead to unhealthy habits, the study
team writes.
"There are indications that the burden of loneliness and social
isolation is growing," the researchers write. "Increasing evidence
points to their influence on poor health outcomes being equivalent
to the risk associated with severe obesity"
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2oSDAXX Heart, online November 4, 2019.
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