The impact of loneliness on healthcare use in older people: evidence from a nationally representative cohort
Citation:
Burns Annette, Leavey Gerard, Ward Mark, O'Sullivan, Roger, The impact of loneliness on healthcare use in older people: evidence from a nationally representative cohort, Journal of Public Health, 2020Download Item:
Abstract:
Aim: Concerns around loneliness leading to increased healthcare use persist in spite of a mixed evidence base and lack of
adjustment for key potential confounders. We investigated the associations among loneliness, health and healthcare use in older
adults including stratification to investigate whether these associations differ by gender.
Subject and methods: Secondary analysis of a nationally representative sample of 8175 community-dwelling adults aged 50
years and over from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Primary outcomes were self-reported general practitioner
(GP) and emergency department (ED) visits in the past 12 months. Negative binomial and logistic regression analysis was used to
investigate associations between loneliness and healthcare use, later adjusting for potential mediators (health and health
behaviours).
Results: Loneliness was consistently positively associated with number of GP visits according to both cross-sectional and
longitudinal analyses, with incidence rate ratios (IRRs) ranging from 1.08 to 1.33 in the sample overall. Associations with ED
visits were less consistent. After adjusting for health and health behaviours, male loneliness does not appear to influence ED or
GP visits. However, women who reported loneliness had an elevated risk of an ED visit at wave 1 (W1; odds ratio (OR) 1.08
[1.01–1.16]), as well as increased GP visits at both waves (IRRs ranging from 1.05 [1.02–1.07] to 1.16 [1.07–1.26]).
Conclusion: Older women experiencing loneliness visit their GP more often irrespective of health, health behaviours or social
isolation. While effect sizes were small, there are implications for health service resources at a population level. Importantly,
however, this may also be a useful opportunity to redirect towards appropriate services and tailored resources.
Author's Homepage:
http://people.tcd.ie/wardm8Description:
PUBLISHED
Author: Ward, Mark
Type of material:
Journal ArticleCollections
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Journal of Public Health;Availability:
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AgeingDOI:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-020-01338-4Metadata
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