Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY
Volume 32, Issue 6, Pages 664-674Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/gps.4509
Keywords
social isolation; loneliness; cognitive function; ageing
Categories
Funding
- Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland
- Department of Health and Children, Republic of Ireland
- Atlantic Philanthropies
- Irish Life
- National Institute on Ageing
- Department for Transport England
- Department of Health England
- Department for Work and Pensions England
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Objective: Scant evidence is available on the discordance between loneliness and social isolation among older adults. We aimed to investigate this discordance and any health implications that it may have. Method: Using nationally representative datasets from ageing cohorts in Ireland (TILDA) and England (ELSA), we created a metric of discordance between loneliness and social isolation, to which we refer as Social Asymmetry. This metric was the categorised difference between standardised scores on a scale of loneliness and a scale of social isolation, giving categories of: Concordantly Lonely and Isolated, Discordant: Robust to Loneliness, or Discordant: Susceptible to Loneliness. We used regression and multilevel modelling to identify potential relationships between Social Asymmetry and cognitive outcomes. Results: Social Asymmetry predicted cognitive outcomes cross-sectionally and at a two-year follow-up, such that Discordant: Robust to Loneliness individuals were superior performers, but we failed to find evidence for Social Asymmetry as a predictor of cognitive trajectory over time. Conclusions: We present a new metric and preliminary evidence of a relationship with clinical outcomes. Further research validating this metric in different populations, and evaluating its relationship with other outcomes, is warranted. Copyright (C) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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