Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for coronary heart disease and stroke: systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal observational studies
Valtorta, Kanaan, Gilbody, Ronzi and Hanratty undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between loneliness or social isolation and incident coronary heart disease and stroke, searching sixteen electronic databases for longitudinal studies in high-income countries published to May 2015. Of 35,925 records retrieved, 23 papers met the inclusion criteria, reporting data from sixteen longitudinal datasets covering 4,628 coronary heart disease events and 3,002 stroke events over follow-up periods ranging from three to twenty-one years. Poor social relationships were associated with a twenty-nine per cent increase in the risk of incident coronary heart disease and a thirty-two per cent increase in the risk of stroke. Subgroup analyses identified no differences by gender. The authors call for studies investigating whether interventions targeting loneliness and social isolation can actually prevent these outcomes, which is the gap that constrains every practical recommendation in this area.
Valtorta, Kanaan, Gilbody, Ronzi and Hanratty undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between loneliness or social isolation and incident coronary heart disease and stroke, searching sixteen electronic databases for longitudinal studies in high-income countries published to May 2015. Of 35,925 records retrieved, 23 papers met the inclusion criteria, reporting data from sixteen longitudinal datasets covering 4,628 coronary heart disease events and 3,002 stroke events over follow-up periods ranging from three to twenty-one years. Poor social relationships were associated with a twenty-nine per cent increase in the risk of incident coronary heart disease and a thirty-two per cent increase in the risk of stroke. Subgroup analyses identified no differences by gender. The authors call for studies investigating whether interventions targeting loneliness and social isolation can actually prevent these outcomes, which is the gap that constrains every practical recommendation in this area.
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Valtorta, N. K., Kanaan, M., Gilbody, S., Ronzi, S., & Hanratty, B. (2016). 'Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for coronary heart disease and stroke.' Heart, 102(13), 1009-1016. Sixteen databases searched, 16 longitudinal datasets pooled, 4,628 coronary heart disease events and 3,002 strokes over follow-up of 3 to 21 years; poor social relationships associated with a 29 per cent increase in incident coronary heart disease and a 32 per cent increase in stroke, with no differences by gender. doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2015-308790
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- Which Is Worse, Being Alone or Feeling Lonely, Why We Belong
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https://doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2015-308790
DOI: 10.1136/heartjnl-2015-308790