Social contacts and their relationship to loneliness among aged people -: A population-based study

被引:248
作者
Routasalo, PE
Savikko, N
Tilvis, RS
Strandberg, TE
Pitkälä, KH
机构
[1] Cent Union Welfare Aged, FI-00700 Helsinki, Finland
[2] Helsinki Univ Hosp, Clin Gen Internal Med & Geriatr, FIN-00170 Helsinki, Finland
[3] Univ Turku, Dept Nursing Sci, Turku, Finland
关键词
loneliness; aged people; social contacts; social isolation;
D O I
10.1159/000091828
中图分类号
R592 [老年病学]; C [社会科学总论];
学科分类号
03 ; 0303 ; 100203 ;
摘要
Background: Emotional loneliness and social isolation are major problems in old age. These concepts are interrelated and often used interchangeably, but few studies have investigated them simultaneously thus trying to clarify their relationship. Objectives: To describe the prevalence of loneliness among aged Finns and to study the relationship of loneliness with the frequency of social contacts, with older people's expectations and satisfaction of their human relationships. Especially, we wanted to clarify whether emotional loneliness is a separate concept from social isolation. Methods: The data were collected with a postal questionnaire. Background information, feelings of loneliness, number of friends, frequency of contacts with children, grandchildren and friends, the expectations of frequency of contacts as well as satisfaction of the contacts were inquired. The questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 6,786 aged people (> 74 years) in various urban and rural areas in Finland. We report here the results of community-dwelling respondents (n = 4,113). Main Results: More than one third of the respondents (39.4%) suffered from loneliness. Feeling of loneliness was not associated with the frequency of contacts with children and friends but rather with expectations and satisfaction of these contacts. The most powerful predictors of loneliness were living alone, depression, experienced poor understanding by the nearest, and unfulfilled expectations of contacts with friends. Conclusion: Our findings support the view that emotional loneliness is a separate concept from social isolation. This has implications for practice. Interventions aiming at relieving loneliness should be focused on enabling an individual to reflect her own expectations and inner feelings of loneliness. Copyright (c) 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel.
引用
收藏
页码:181 / 187
页数:7
相关论文
共 34 条
[1]   Loneliness research and interventions: a review of the literature [J].
Andersson, L .
AGING & MENTAL HEALTH, 1998, 2 (04) :264-274
[2]   LONELINESS IN THE SWEDISH AGED [J].
BERG, S ;
MELLSTROM, D ;
PERSSON, G ;
SVANBORG, A .
JOURNALS OF GERONTOLOGY, 1981, 36 (03) :342-349
[3]   SOCIAL NETWORKS, HOST-RESISTANCE, AND MORTALITY - 9-YEAR FOLLOW-UP-STUDY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY RESIDENTS [J].
BERKMAN, LF ;
SYME, SL .
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, 1979, 109 (02) :186-204
[4]   SOCIAL SUPPORT AND MORTALITY IN AN ELDERLY COMMUNITY POPULATION [J].
BLAZER, DG .
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, 1982, 115 (05) :684-694
[5]   The oldest old, ADL, social network, and loneliness [J].
Bondevik, M ;
Skogstad, A .
WESTERN JOURNAL OF NURSING RESEARCH, 1998, 20 (03) :325-343
[6]  
Chang Su-Hong, 1999, Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences, V15, P337
[7]   SOCIAL-INTERVENTION AND THE ELDERLY - A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL [J].
CLARKE, M ;
CLARKE, SJ ;
JAGGER, C .
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, 1992, 136 (12) :1517-1523
[8]   LONELINESS AMONG THE ELDERLY - A CAUSAL APPROACH [J].
CREECY, RF ;
BERG, WE ;
WRIGHT, R .
JOURNALS OF GERONTOLOGY, 1985, 40 (04) :487-493
[9]   THE IMPORTANCE OF EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL-ISOLATION TO LONELINESS AMONG VERY OLD RURAL ADULTS [J].
DUGAN, E ;
KIVETT, VR .
GERONTOLOGIST, 1994, 34 (03) :340-346
[10]  
Dykstra P A, 1999, Tijdschr Gerontol Geriatr, V30, P212