An extensive study has shown the link between loneliness (social isolation) and higher risk of death. All races studied were the cause of death of a combination of various causes and cardiovascular disease, and in white racial individuals there was also an increased mortality rate on cancer.

An extensive study by the American Cancer Society, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found an association between social isolation and an increased risk of death. In all races studied, the causes of death were a combination of different diseases or cardiovascular diseases, and white individuals also had increased cancer mortality. According to the study, promising improvement could relatively easily be achieved by removing social isolation and at the same time other risk factors could be positively influenced. Loneliness is also associated with hypertension, inflammation, low physical activity, smoking and other health risks.

Link between loneliness and higher mortality

The relationship between social isolation and higher mortality has been demonstrated in studies, especially in the adult Caucasian population; in the African American population, this relationship remains unclear.

A new prospective cohort study, led by Kassandra Alcaraz, PhD, MPH of the American Cancer Society, examined the links between social isolation and mortality due to various causes (cardiovascular and oncological diseases) and between the race and gender of the subjects studied. The study analyzed data obtained from a sample of 580 adults enrolled in the Cancer Prevention Study II in 182/1982 and whose mortality was monitored until 1983.

Scientists considered several standard factors of social isolation - family status, frequency of church events, club visits and group activities, and the number of close friends or relatives. The 0 score (least isolated) or 1 (the most isolated) attributed to each factor has created a total of five points of social isolation. For example, someone who was married often attended religious events, attended club meetings and / or group activities and had seven or more close friends, gained the 0 isolation score. The person without these factors should have an 4 isolation score.

Results of the study

Taken together, race was found to have a greater effect on social isolation than gender: Caucasian men and women fell into the least isolated group more often than African Americans. In the complete sample, a statistically significant association was found between social isolation and the risk of death from various causes during the 30-year follow-up period. However, in the first 15 years of follow-up, this relationship was demonstrably more significant. The association of social isolation and mortality from cardiovascular disease was demonstrated in all subgroups. The relationship between loneliness and cancer mortality has been confirmed in the Caucasian population, but not among black men and women. Each individual factor of social isolation was related to mortality from various causes and mortality from cardiovascular diseases. An association with cancer mortality has been demonstrated for all factors except the number of close friends / relatives.

 "These findings suggest that the degree of social isolation has a significant effect on the risk of mortality in both black and white sexes.". "The most solitary individuals in the African American population had more than twice the risk of dying from any cause compared to the least solitary group. White men have been shown to have a 60% higher risk of death, and white women even by 84%. "

Interpersonal relationships are important

With the development of medicine, other factors influencing human health, including social ones, will also gain in importance in clinical practice, the authors of the study write. The removal of social isolation is in line with this holistic approach.

"The lack of interpersonal relationships seems particularly damaging."

Maintaining good interpersonal relationships is important

The authors point to a recent meta-analysis that demonstrated social isolation as an independent factor of mortality risk with the same weight as well-known risk factors such as physical inactivity, obesity or lack of health care. Given the increasingly frequent work with clinically modifiable risk factors, such as obesity, we assume that positive results can be expected even in the fight against social isolation.