Background: The Spanish population presents higher levels of loneliness than citizens of countries in Northern Europe. Numerous studies have linked loneliness to increased morbidity and mortality, but very few studies have associated loneliness with healthy lifestyles. The objectives of this research are to identify the feeling of unwanted loneliness in various age and gender groups in the city of Alcalá de Henares (Madrid, Spain), to determine lifestyle habits in the areas of diet and physical exercise, and to examine the association between lifestyle habits and perceived loneliness. Methods: A cross-sectional, observational and analytical study on the perception of loneliness among men (59.06%) and women (60.06%) in a sample (n = 611) of the general population (N = 198,945), by means of random assignment of a health survey, was conducted. The data were collected using an ad hoc questionnaire. The data were stratified and analyzed with the IBM SSPS® v.25 software package. Results: The frequency of loneliness is stratified by sex and age, and healthy lifestyle habits in terms of diet and physical exercise are analyzed. Conclusions: People with perceived loneliness do not have worse lifestyle habits. However, women living with other people have a higher perception of loneliness than those living alone. Specifically, the perception of loneliness in young adult women could suggest a low level of moderate physical exercise.

Aim To evaluate the effectiveness of the application of topical heat, high pressure or a combination of both on antebrachial venous cannulation. Design A cross‐over clinical trial blinded for haemolysis analysis. Methods This cross‐over clinical trial with two periods was performed in the Clinical Trial Unit of Hospital Universitario de La Princesa (Madrid) during June–July of 2017 in 59 healthy adults who were randomly allocated to one of three interventions: (1) Using dry topical heat for 7 min produced by two hot seed bags (N = 21), (2) Applying controlled pressure from a sphygmomanometer inflated to 100 mmHg (N = 18) and (3) combining heat and pressure (N = 20) in one period out of two. All interventions were contrasted to standard clinical practice in the other period. The comparator involved a standard tourniquet around the upper arm to restrict venous blood flow. The primary outcome was effectiveness measured as vein cannulation at first attempt. Secondary outcomes were vein perception, pain, haemolysis in blood samples and adverse events. Results All the interventions were more effective than comparator. Vein perception was optimized in about all individuals. Moreover, pain relief was significantly higher when high pressure was applied. Haemolysis was not affected in any of the three interventions. In addition, no serious adverse events appeared. Conclusion High pressure is determined to be the most effective in vein catheterization, pain relief, vein perception and quality of blood sample inalterability. Moreover, it is safe considering that only one adverse event appeared. Impact Vein cannulation is a very common invasive technique, where repeated failures have been registered. Thus, we consider it relevant to develop interventions to achieve venous catheterization at first attempt to alleviate the pain and anxiety associated with this technique. We advocate using high pressure intervention for emergency, due to swiftest method and feasible in case of lacking resources, such as sphygmomanometers in the ambulance. Interventions can be extrapolated to healthy young adults, adults and patients who have healthy vein status perception. Pressure intervention could be an alternative to heat intervention when performing vein cannulation due to its lower risk of transient paresthesia for older people who often suffer from arterial hypertension.