Loneliness increases the prevalence of depression in the elderly fourfold, study shows

Loneliness in old age

Research points out that women over 80 who have never attended school are likely to often feel alone

Depression is four times more common among seniors who report feeling lonely all the time – and the risk of developing the disease doubles just by living alone. The information is from a survey by the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) published on Friday (21) in the magazine “Cadernos de Saúde Pública”, which also points out that it is likely that women over 80 who have never attended school often feel alone or lonely.

The analysis considered the responses of nearly 8,000 participants aged 50 years or over from the first edition of the Longitudinal Study of the Health of the Brazilian Elderly (ELSI-Brasil) from 2015-2016 to the question “How often did you feel alone or lonely: always, sometimes or never?”. While 16.8% reported always feeling lonely, 31.7% of respondents always felt lonely. The researchers crossed this data with health conditions, such as depression, and sociodemographic indicators such as education level, gender, and behavior, such as living alone and sleep quality.

In loneliness, the individual feels that their relationships are not enough to satisfy their emotional needs. According to the researchers, the relationship between loneliness and depression is already well documented, with feelings common to both, such as the negative perception of social interactions and the anticipated sense of rejection.

Age can reflect life experiences such as widowhood and retirement. According to other studies, in women, a longer life expectancy and the presence of mental illnesses are associated with a greater probability of loneliness.

In addition to the significant associations between depression and loneliness and living alone, older adults, unhealthy eating, and poor quality of sleep and overall health, also experience loneliness.

“The results of the article allow us to say that loneliness is a bigger problem than simply an emotional experience. This variable is related to the social determinants of health”, points out Flávia Silva Arbex Borim, co-author of the article. “This means that, possibly, the adults and elderly who are more likely to feel lonely are those who are more likely to have more illnesses and addictions, to have more pain and to experience more negative emotional states”,

complements the other author, Anita Liberalesso Neri.

The theme becomes even more relevant when considering the aging scenario of the Brazilian population. “With the results, one can think about the planning and implementation of interventions that seek to prevent loneliness in adults, understood today as a public health problem”, suggests Borim.

As next steps, the researchers emphasize the importance of verifying the relationship of variables with changes in the perception of loneliness over time. The influence of the Covid-19 pandemic must also be addressed.

“We want to know if and through which variables changes occurred in the conditions of loneliness and isolation experienced before and during the lockdown experiences associated with the new coronavirus pandemic”,

says Neri.

*Source: Bori Agency

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