The association between loneliness and health – a survey-based study among middle-aged and older adults in Denmark

Abstract

ABSTRACTBackground: While the association between overall poor health and loneliness among older adults continues to be examined closely, less attention has been given to middle-aged adults. This paper examines the relationship between loneliness and health as measured by self-rated health, physical ability and multi-morbidity in a large sample of Danish adults between the ages of 52–92 years. Furthermore, it identifies vulnerable groups with regard to the year of birth and gender.Method: We apply the survey-study method, using data collected by The Danish National Centre for Social Research in 2012. We analysed the association between loneliness and health in 9154 Danish adults through multi-variate regression analyses adjusting for the year of birth, gender, marital status, cohabitation status, employment status and home ownership.Results: We found that loneliness was associated with increased risks of poor self-rated health (OR, 2.58; 95% Cl, 1.20–3.35), limited physical abilities (OR, 1.91; 95% Cl, 1.58–2.32) and multiple diagnoses (OR, 1.77; 95% Cl, 1.48–2.12). Lonely middle-aged adults (52–62 years of age) had an increased risk of having limited physical abilities.Conclusion: Among middle-aged and older Danish adults, loneliness was strongly associated with poor self-rated health, limited physical ability and multi-morbidity.