A single question assessment of loneliness in older adults during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A nationally‐representative study

Association of social isolation and loneliness with telehealth use among older adults during COVID‐19

“…It is plausible that our single-item measure of loneliness lacked adequate precision and that a more robust measure is needed (e.g., the UCLA Loneliness Scale 1 ), though a recent pandemic-era study found comparable classification between these 1-item and 3-item scales. 9 Loneliness is an important determinant of functional decline, dementia, and death among older adults, 3 and efficient and accurate identification of lonely older adults is needed to reduce these outcomes. As telehealth use continues to expand within health systems, efforts are being made to identify those without telehealth access and assist with connection.…”

Association between changes in loneliness identified through screening and changes in depression or anxiety in older adults

“…The item was worded, “How often do you feel lonely or isolated from those around you?” Response options were: never, rarely, sometimes, often, and always. In order to maximize screening sensitivity (i.e., to minimize the false negative rate), we dichotomized responses to the loneliness question as: never or rarely versus sometimes, often, or always 29 . Comparing dichotomous responses at both surveys allowed us to define four groups for analysis: individuals who were persistently lonely on both surveys, recently lonely (on the second but not the first survey), previously lonely (on the first but not the second survey) or not lonely on either survey.…”

A paradigm shift—Loneliness as a root cause of symptom distress among older adults

“…As a first step, clinical teams and health systems should routinely ask about and identify loneliness among patients, particularly those experiencing pain, depression, or fatigue. Complicated surveys are not needed; loneliness can be quickly identified through a single question or brief scales 13,27 . Clinicians often worry about screening for conditions without having a clear next evidence‐based intervention.…”

“…Complicated surveys are not needed; loneliness can be quickly identified through a single question or brief scales. 13,27 Clinicians often worry about screening for conditions without having a clear next evidence-based intervention. This is a valid concern, yet screening for loneliness is different than other medical screenings in at least two ways.…”