Abstract
In Singapore, a densely urbanised Asian city state, more than 80% of the population stays in public housing estates and the majority (90%) own their own homes. For the needy who cannot afford home ownership, public rental flats are available. We were interested in exploring social-environmental factors that are associated with loneliness among elderly residents of public rental housing in Singapore. We surveyed residents aged ≥60 in two Singapore public housing precincts in 2016. Loneliness was measured using a three-item scale. Sociodemographic information was obtained via standardised questionnaires. We used chi-square to identify associations between loneliness and sociodemographic characteristics, as well as neighbourhood perceptions (safety, convenience and the physical environment), on univariate analysis; and logistic regression for multivariate analysis. The response rate was 62.1% (528/800). On multivariate analysis, staying in a rental flat block was independently associated with loneliness (adjusted odds ratio, aOR = 2.10, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.32–3.36), as was staying in a poorer physical environment (aOR = 1.92, 95% CI = 1.15–3.22). Although needy Singapore residents share the same built environment as more well-to-do neighbours, differences in the impact of loneliness do exist.
Highlights
Social relationships are important for health and mental wellness
We removed the neighbourhood density subscale because our study solely focused on public housing estates, which were a homogenous mix of high-rise apartment blocks
About one-third of those staying in rental flat blocks were lonely (32.0%, 88/275), compared with those staying in owner-occupied housing (15.4%, 39/253)
Summary
Social relationships are important for health and mental wellness. Loneliness, social isolation, and mental wellness are inextricably interlinked [1,2]. While at the level of the individual, factors such as socioeconomic status (SES), small social networks, and living alone are all associated with loneliness [3,4], the environment that one resides in can affect loneliness. Evidence suggests that both physical and social characteristics of the neighborhood environment both contribute to loneliness. Residents’ perceived quality of their neighborhood environment is associated with loneliness in studies. Public Health 2019, 16, 967; doi:10.3390/ijerph16060967 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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