The economic costs of loneliness: a review of cost-of-illness and economic evaluation studies

Mihalopoulos, Cathrine; Le, Long Khanh-Dao; Chatterton, Mary Lou; Bucholc, Jessica; Holt‐Lunstad, Julianne; Lim, Michelle H.; Engel, Lidia

doi:10.1007/s00127-019-01733-7

Cited by 89 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…We investigated average changes in daily loneliness (Research Objective 1) and sociodemographic subgroups that are particularly susceptible to increases in daily loneliness (Research Objective 2). Even small increases in daily loneliness, whether at the population level or within specific subgroups, can accumulate over time, may lead to health issues in the future, and can be associated with high economic costs on a society level (Mihalopoulos et al, 2020). Furthermore, understanding who suffers most from physical distancing can inform public policy to allocate resources to those who are particularly at risk of loneliness.…”

Section: Daily Diary Study On Loneliness During the Covid-19 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in daily loneliness for German residents during the first four weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic

Buecker

Horstmann

Krasko

et al. 2020

Social Science & Medicine

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Rationale: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has dramatically altered people's social lives due to social restriction measures taken to control the coronavirus spread. Early on, increased loneliness has been publicly discussed as a harmful psychological side effect of these measures. Due to the serious adverse health consequences of loneliness, it is essential to take these concerns seriously and investigate them systematically to allow for evidence-based decision making. Thus far, however, high-resolution empirical evidence of such harmful side effects is rare. Methods: The present preregistered large-scale daily diary study assessed daily loneliness in 4,844 German adults between March 16 and April 12, 2020. Results and conclusion: Daily loneliness slightly increased during the first two weeks since implementing the pandemic-related measures and slightly decreased thereafter. With increasing age, daily loneliness increased more strongly over the four weeks. Moreover, daily loneliness increased more strongly for parents compared to people without children. Thus, despite some increases in loneliness in some individuals, there was no linear increase in loneliness in response to the first pandemic-related measures in the present sample.

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Section: Daily Diary Study On Loneliness During the Covid-19 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in daily loneliness for German residents during the first four weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic

Buecker

Horstmann

Krasko

et al. 2020

Social Science & Medicine

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“… 1 , 3 More recently, increasing attention has focused on loneliness as an indicator of low social connectedness. 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 Loneliness has been defined primarily as an emotional state; a ‘ distressing feeling that accompanies the perception that one’s social needs are not being met by the quantity or especially the quality of one’s social relationships ’. 5 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Loneliness, social support, social isolation and wellbeing among working age adults with and without disability: Cross-sectional study

Emerson

Fortune

Llewellyn

et al. 2021

Disability and Health Journal

178

116

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Background Loneliness is significantly related to health and wellbeing. However, there is little information on the prevalence of loneliness among people with disability or the association between disability, loneliness and wellbeing. Objective/hypothesis For a nationally representative sample of adults (age 16–64) with/without disability, to examine exposure to three indicators of low social connectedness (loneliness, low perceived social support, social isolation), and to evaluate the association between low social connectedness and wellbeing. To test whether disability status moderated the relationship between low social connectedness and wellbeing. Methods Secondary analysis of data from three annual rounds of the cross-sectional English Community Life Survey (CLS) 2016–19. Results People with disability experienced loneliness, low perceived social support and social isolation at significantly higher rates than people without disability. Effect sizes were significantly greater for loneliness. Disability was associated with lower wellbeing. With one exception, low social connectedness was associated with lower wellbeing. Again, effect sizes were significantly greater for loneliness. The prevalence of loneliness was highest among adults with disability who were younger, economically inactive, living in rented or other accommodation, living alone and with low levels of access to environmental assets. There was no evidence that disability status moderated the association between exposure to low social connectedness and low wellbeing. Conclusions Loneliness was a particularly significant driver of poor wellbeing among people with disability. The relative independence between different indicators of social connectedness suggests that interventions to reduce loneliness will need to do more than simply increase rates of social contact or social support.

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“…The consequences of loneliness are not only significant in terms of health, but also in terms of public health care costs: research shows that loneliness is associated with increased primary care physician visits [12,13]. A recent review shows that loneliness is likely to be associated with excess health care costs [14]. Moreover, a study in the United Kingdom estimated that the increase in health services usage due to either loneliness or the consequences of loneliness will result in a cost of £12,000 per person over 15 years [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age differences in demographic, social and health-related factors associated with loneliness across the adult life span (19–65 years): a cross-sectional study in the Netherlands

et al. 2020

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Background: Recognition of loneliness as a health concern among adults stresses the need to understand the factors associated with loneliness. Research into factors of influence in the various phases of the adult life span (19-65 years) is scarce. Therefore, the associations between demographic, social and health-related factors and loneliness among young (19-34 years), early middle-aged (35-49 years) and late middle-aged adults (50-65 years) were explored. Methods: A secondary analysis with a large cross-sectional dataset was performed. Data was collected from September to December 2016 in the Netherlands, by a self-report survey. Loneliness was measured using the De Jong-Gierveld Loneliness Scale. In total, 26,342 adults (19-65 years) participated (response rate: 34%). Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to examine associations between demographic, social and health-related factors as independent variables, and loneliness as dependent variable among the three age groups. Results: Prevalence of loneliness among young, early and late middle-aged adults was 39.7, 43.3 and 48.2%, respectively. Living alone, frequency of neighbour contact, perceived social exclusion, psychological distress, psychological and emotional wellbeing were consistently associated with loneliness across the groups. The association between ethnicity and loneliness was stronger among young and early middle-aged adults, compared to late middle-aged adults. Young adults showed the strongest association between contact frequency with friends and loneliness. The strength of association between financial imbalance and loneliness gradually decreased from young to late middle-aged adults. Educational level was associated with loneliness among young adults only, while an association between employment status and loneliness was found solely among early middle-aged adults. For late middle-aged adults only, perceived health was associated with loneliness. Frequency of family contact was associated with loneliness, only among early and late middle-aged adults.

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The economic costs of loneliness: a review of cost-of-illness and economic evaluation studies

Cited by 89 publications

References 25 publications

Changes in daily loneliness for German residents during the first four weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic

Changes in daily loneliness for German residents during the first four weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic

Loneliness, social support, social isolation and wellbeing among working age adults with and without disability: Cross-sectional study

Age differences in demographic, social and health-related factors associated with loneliness across the adult life span (19–65 years): a cross-sectional study in the Netherlands

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