Socially-Isolated Older Adults at Higher Risk of Being Hospitalized for Respiratory Disease

StudyFinds reports that researchers used data from the English Longitudinal Study On Aging to identify loneliness as a separate risk factor from other problems in older people leading to hospitalization. The study in Thorax looked at 4,478 people, combining death statistics with hospitalization records. "This research study . . . does raise questions as to if, and how, hospital admissions for other respiratory conditions such as COVID-19 may be related to social factors such as isolation in addition to biomedical factors," said University College London's Daisy Fancourt. Additional variables factored into the analysis included the subject's gender, ethnicity, education, household income, underlying health issues, undiagnosed cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lifestyle choices. Over a period of 9.5 years, about 10 percent of participants were hospitalized for respiratory disease, and factors like loneliness and social contact with family did not appear to be associated with their visit. Yet living alone and poor social engagement did play a role in their hospitalization, with the chances of needing emergency care growing by 32 percent and 24 percent, respectively. Socially inactive individuals were also more likely to be physically inactive and smoke more. Finally, they were less likely to see a doctor even when symptoms cropped up.