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Loneliness tied to poorer health in old age
Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:17pm EDT
Reuters March 26, 2009
By Amy Norton
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older adults who lack family and friends, or who feel lonely despite having others around them, tend to be in poorer physical and mental health, a new study finds.
Researchers found that among roughly 3,000 U.S. adults ages 57 to 85, those with few social connections were less likely to describe their physical health as good or excellent. Meanwhile, those who felt socially isolated -- even if they had friends, family and social activities -- tended to report poorer physical and mental well-being.
The findings, reported in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, add to evidence linking social connections to older adults' health.
But they also suggest that older people's actual social support and their perceptions of that support each have independent effects, according to the researchers.
"Most older adults will experience significant changes in their social relationships due to things20like retirement and bereavement, for example," said lead researcher Dr. Erin York Cornwell, of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Some people, she told Reuters Health, respond to this by becoming active in social organizations or spending more time with friends and family. Yet some may still end up feeling lonely at the end of the day. On the other hand, some older adults are satisfied with having fewer relationships.
In this study, people's actual social connections were linked to their physical health -- which may be related to practical factors, like having someone to drive you to a doctor's appointment or remind you to take your medicine.
Scripture for the day
You made me; you created me.
Now give me the sense to follow your commands.
Psalm 119:73 (New Living Translation)
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