Abstract
To establish the prevalence and determinants of loneliness among people living with dementia. Using data from the baseline wave of the Improving the experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life (IDEAL) cohort study, we examined the prevalence and predictors of loneliness in 1547 people with mild-to-moderate dementia. Loneliness was assessed using the six-item De Jong Gierveld loneliness scale. About 30.1% of people with dementia reported feeling moderately lonely and 5.2% severely lonely. Depressive symptoms and increased risk of social isolation were associated with both moderate and severe loneliness. Those living alone were more likely to experience severe loneliness as were those reporting poorer quality of life. Marital status was not associated with loneliness nor were dementia diagnosis or cognitive function. This is one of the few large-scale studies to explore the prevalence of and determinants of loneliness among people living with dementia. Social isolation, depression and living alone were associated with experiencing loneliness. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine the directionality of these associations.
Highlights
Worldwide around 50 million people are living with dementia and this is predicted to increase and reach 152 million by 2050.1 Identifying factors that may help or hinder the ability to ‘live well’ with dementia is valuable
Loneliness was significantly associated with increased age, living alone, widowhood, depression and isolation, and with lower wellbeing, quality of life and life satisfaction
We found that people with dementia had a loneliness prevalence which was broadly comparable with that of their peers who did not have dementia
Summary
Worldwide around 50 million people are living with dementia and this is predicted to increase and reach 152 million by 2050.1 Identifying factors that may help or hinder the ability to ‘live well’ with dementia is valuable. The Institute of Medicine defines ‘living well’ as ‘the best achievable state of health that encompasses all dimensions of physical, mental and social well-being’ (p 32).[2,3] Our recent comprehensive model examining factors associated with living well for people with dementia identified loneliness as one of the psychological indicators that affected the ability to ‘live well’.3. Loneliness is potentially modifiable and, as such, the aims of the current study are to identify the prevalence and determinants of loneliness in people living with dementia. It has been widely linked to depression and mental health[5] and is a potential risk factor for the development of poorer physical health outcomes[6] and mortality,[7] and compromised quality of life, life satisfaction and wellbeing.[3,8] In older populations, factors such
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