For the first time ever, the impacts on life and health expectancy of loneliness in old age have been quantified by scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School and the Nihon University.
Assistant Professor Rahul Malhotra, Head of Research at Duke-NUS and lead author of the study, the team found that loneliness in older adults has a negative implication on life expectancy where they can observe a shorter life than their colleagues that have no self-actualization of loneliness themselves.
Understanding the Relationship of Loneliness and Life Expectancy
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The study published under the title, "Loneliness and all-cause mortality in community-dwelling elderly Singaporeans" in the journal Demographic Research suggests that 60-year-old citizens that see themselves as sometimes or mostly lonely can expect to observe a shorter lifetime, by three to five years, compared to peers that see themselves as never lonely.
Likewise, citizens aged 70-80 that identify themselves as lone, on average, can expect a decrease of a maximum of four years in terms of life expectancy compared to others.
Using the dataset, scientists discovered that the perception of loneliness has an impact on two versions of health expectancy--the remaining years to be lived in a self-rated state of good health and the remaining years lived without being limited to activities of daily life. These activities include many seemingly mundane tasks that older adults are known to struggle with at a certain point in life. Such as getting up, dressing and bathing, preparing meals, cleaning, and more.
Scientists note that at the age of 60, sometimes or often lonely, seniors can expect a decrease of three to five years from their remaining life, on average, with no known limitations in daily living activities. While at 70, lonely seniors' life expectancy reduces two to four years, and at 80, less than one to three years, on average.
The study was conducted in a relevant setting, Singapore, where impacts of loneliness in older adults can be seen in contracts to a country that has a rapidly aging population and a collectivistic culture where individuals' needs and desires are considered to be of utmost importance. Previous studies conducted found that degrees of loneliness are higher in collectivistic societies. This suggests that loneliness can have detrimental impacts in societies like Singapore.
Previously, in 2016-2017, CARE researchers created a study investigating various factors influencing the well-being, health, productivity, and activity levels of older Singaporean citizens. Nationally representative data gathered from roughly 2,000 older citizens, and permanent residents suggested that a third or roughly 34% of the group perceived themselves as lonely. The proportions only increased with age, from 32% for those aged 60-69 years of age to roughly 40% for older citizens aged 80 and above, reports Eurekalert.
Similar studies were conducted in Japan where the study published in the SAGE Journal, entitled "Gender Differentials in Disability and Mortality Transitions: The Case of Older Adults in Japan," aimed to determine which factors such as socioeconomic characteristics, disease profile, and age differences influenced mortality rates.
