Social isolation increases death risk, study finds

People in later life who do not see friends or family regularly are almost 50 per cent more likely to die before their time than those who do, a stark new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows.

The study, which goes further than previous research to establish a link between isolation and early death, reveals that social isolation can dramatically increase the risk of mortality in both men and women, even after underlying health problems are taken into account.

The study, which was conducted by British researchers from the department of public health at University College London, examined the lifestyles of 6,500 people aged 52 and over, who were followed over a seven-year period up until March 2012.  The researchers concluded that simply enabling people to get out and about more often would not only make them feel less lonely but actively increase their life expectancy.

When the UCL researchers compared two groups - one adjudged as ‘very isolated' and the other as ‘well integrated' - almost twice as many people in the first group had died as in the second, and, when the figures were adjusted to take into account pre-existing health conditions or age, those who lived solitary lives were still up to 48 per cent more likely to have died.

The team said they had excluded the possibility of ‘reverse causality',  the idea that those who died were more isolated because of their poor health as opposed to having poor health because of their isolation.

Lindsay Scott, Age Scotland spokesman, said: "This points out in no uncertain terms that being lonely and isolated is not just depressing, it is a genuine health risk, increasing the chances of early death.

"Disability, poor health, poverty and no access to transport all contribute to older people feeling cut off from their family, friends and local community, leaving many of them with little or no social interaction.

"We all need to do more to bring older people into the heart of our communities but at Age Scotland we are concerned that local authority budget cuts are exacerbating the problem of isolation for many.

"Right across Scotland we are hearing of day care centres, often the only regular social life that many older people enjoy, being closed, public conveniences shutting, libraries operating reduced hours and funding for community transport initiatives being cut or completely pulled.

"These all enable older people to leave their homes and meet and interact with their peers, and as a result, an increasing number of older people are now hidden away behind closed doors struggling to cope on their own."