Journal
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF AGEING
Volume 19, Issue 4, Pages 1441-1453Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s10433-022-00729-8
Keywords
Aged 80 and over; Cross-sectional study; Dementia; Social participation
Categories
Funding
- Umea University
- Swedish Research Council [K201499X-22610-01-6]
- Vardal Research Foundation
- King Gustav V and Queen Viktoria Foundation
- Region Vasterbotten
- JC Kempe Memorial Foundation
- Research Foundation of the Faculty of Medicine and Odontology at Umea University
- Detlof Research Foundation
- Swedish Dementia Association
- European Union
- Regional Development fund
- Interreg IIIA Mitt-Scandia
- Strategic Research Program in Care Sciences (SFO-V)
- Bothnia-Atlantica program
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Loneliness and dementia are common among very old people. This study compared the prevalence of loneliness between elderly with and without dementia, and investigated factors associated with loneliness in each group. The prevalence of loneliness did not differ between the two groups, but the factors associated with loneliness varied.
Loneliness and dementia are common among very old (aged >= 80 years) people, but whether the prevalence of loneliness differs between very old people with and without dementia is unknown and few studies have investigated associated factors. The aims of the present study were to compare the prevalence of loneliness between people with and without dementia in a representative sample of very old people, and to investigate factors associated with loneliness in the two groups separately. This population-based study was conducted with data on 1176 people aged 85, 90, and >= 95 years (mean age 89.0 +/- 4.47 years) from the Umea 85 + /Gerontological Regional Database study conducted in northern Sweden, during year 2000-2017. Structured interviews and assessments were conducted during home visits. Loneliness was assessed using the question Do you ever feel lonely?. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with loneliness in participants with and without dementia. The prevalence of loneliness did not differ between people with and without dementia (50.9% and 46.0%, respectively; p = 0.13). Seven and 24 of 35 variables were univariately associated with the experience of loneliness in participants with and without dementia, respectively. In the final models, living alone and having depressive symptoms were associated with the experience of loneliness in both study groups. In participants without dementia, living in a nursing home was associated with the experience of less loneliness. These findings contribute with important knowledge when developing strategies to reduce loneliness in this growing age group.
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