A new study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal BMJ has found that loneliness should be considered a public health issue because lonely hearts are more likely to die from heart disease.
The study conducted by the researchers from Copenhagen University Hospital looked at more than 13,400 patients who were hospitalized after receiving treatment for ischemic heart disease, heart failure, arrhythmia, or heart valve disease. They were followed up after a year.
The patients were asked questions about their physical health, mental health, and quality of life.
After following them up after a year, the researchers found that lonely patients had been in poor health and were more likely to have died, regardless of diagnosis.
The authors wrote, “A strong association between loneliness and poor patient-reported outcomes and one-year mortality was found in both men and women across cardiac diagnoses.”
The study also found that lonely women were three times more likely to die from any cause after a year than women who did not feel lonely. And lonely men were two times more likely to die from heart disease than men who did not feel lonely.
The researchers explained that patients who felt lonely were more likely to develop depression and anxiety, affecting their quality of life.
Although the exact cause behind the association was unclear, the study found that “poor social relationships” could be the cause, which was associated with a 29 percent increase in heart disease risk and a 32 percent increase in stroke risk.
The researchers wrote, “A recent study links loneliness to an increased risk of incident cardiovascular disease of 27 percent. Similarly, lack of social support appears to play a role in the progression of cardiovascular disease.”
“However, living alone has also been linked to increased risk of mortality and cardiac events, but evidence is not consistent,” they added.
They added, “Across cardiac diagnoses, loneliness was associated with significantly poorer patient-reported outcomes in men and women. Loneliness predicted all-cause mortality among women and men.”
The authors suggested, “Loneliness should be a priority for public health initiatives, and should also be included in clinical risk assessment in cardiac patients. There are indications that the burden of loneliness and social isolation is growing.” “Furthermore, increasing evidence points to their influence on poor health outcomes being equivalent to the risk associated with severe obesity,” they added. “Public health initiatives should therefore aim at reducing loneliness.”
