Associations between living alone, depression, and falls among community-dwelling older adults in the US

Abstract

Social isolation is closely linked to depression and falls in late life and are common among seniors. Although the literature has highlighted age-related variations in these three geriatric conditions, evidence on heterogeneities across older adult age categories is lacking. To address this gap, we present cross-sectional analyses using indicators of social isolation, depression, and falls of older adults constructed from the most recent Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data. An age-based understanding is critical to improve health interventions since health changes occur at a faster rate among seniors than in any other population subgroup. We included all adults 60 years and older (n = 113,233) in the 2018 BRFSS landline dataset and used the status of living alone, depressive disorder diagnosis, and fall incidences reported by these seniors to respectively create the social isolation, depression, and fall indicators. We conducted multivariable logistic regressions to compare findings on these indicators across the three age categories of 60–69, 70–79, and 80 and above after adjusting for a common set of covariates. Results indicate that the likelihood of seniors living alone and reporting depression is the highest among those 80 years and above. Conversely, the odds of depressed seniors reporting falls is the greatest among the 60–69 year olds. Accordingly, we highlight key implications for targeted health promotion and care delivery to seniors.

The Protective Role of the Internet in Depression for Europeans Aged 50+ Living Alone

“…In this research, by the previous literature, living alone positively relates to depression (Das Gupta et al, 2020;Djernes, 2006;Gyasi et al, 2020;Hu et al, 2012;D. Russell & Taylor, 2009;Stahl et al, 2017).…”

Changing Age Segregation in the US: 1990 to 2010

“…Although prior evidence is less than clear on which characteristics of places are supportive of aging (NAS, 2018), lower social environment and support in cities has often been identified as a limiting factor (Hofferth & Iceland, 1998; White & Guest, 2003). Social connection and support of seniors, especially support for the oldest-old living alone (Das Gupta et al, 2020), may be of greater concern in age-segregated communities in urban areas. Prioritizing resources for innovative local and area programs addressing isolation of seniors is therefore imperative given the evidence of a positive association between quality of governmental services and health and wellbeing of older adults in general (Hogan et al, 2016) and during the current pandemic, in particular (Hoffman et al, 2020; Pendergrast, 2021).…”

Effect of sensorimotor rehabilitation based on an immersive virtual reality model on mental health

“…12 This multisensory stimulation processing could be diminished in older adults, due to a lack of new sensory experiences or enriched environments, caused by social isolation and the decrease in physical interaction. 13 This could be a prime factor of change, since some authors have shown that sensory stimulation, specifically time-space, would be related to a healthy brain, reducing the probability of neurodegenerative disorders that are associated with dementia and other mental health disorders in aging. 14 In addition, the use of multisensory stimuli with great variability, such as exposure to new environments, including vestibular changes such as a simulated free fall or risk associated simulations like vertigo sensations, represent not only in an enriched environment and an increase of stimuli variability, but also the possibility of adaptation to new experiences.…”