Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Jan 16;19(1):74.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-019-6424-y.

Associations between social isolation, loneliness, and objective physical activity in older men and women

Stephanie Schrempft  1 , Marta Jackowska  2   1 , Mark Hamer  3   1 , Andrew Steptoe  4
Affiliations

Associations between social isolation, loneliness, and objective physical activity in older men and women

Stephanie Schrempft et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: The impact of social isolation and loneliness on health risk may be mediated by a combination of direct biological processes and lifestyle factors. This study tested the hypothesis that social isolation and loneliness are associated with less objective physical activity and more sedentary behavior in older adults.

Methods: Wrist-mounted accelerometers were worn over 7 days by 267 community-based men (n = 136) and women (n = 131) aged 50-81 years (mean 66.01), taking part in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA; wave 6, 2012-13). Associations between social isolation or loneliness and objective activity were analyzed using linear regressions, with total activity counts and time spent in sedentary behavior and light and moderate/vigorous activity as the outcome variables. Social isolation and loneliness were assessed with standard questionnaires, and poor health, mobility limitations and depressive symptoms were included as covariates.

Results: Total 24 h activity counts were lower in isolated compared with non-isolated respondents independently of gender, age, socioeconomic status, marital status, smoking, alcohol consumption, self-rated health, limiting longstanding illness, mobility limitations, depressive symptoms, and loneliness (β = - 0.130, p = 0.028). Time spent in sedentary behavior over the day and evening was greater in isolated participants (β = 0.143, p = 0.013), while light (β = - 0.143, p = 0.015) and moderate/vigorous (β = - 0.112, p = 0.051) physical activity were less frequent. Physical activity was greater on weekdays than weekend days, but associations with social isolation were similar. Loneliness was not associated with physical activity or sedentary behavior in multivariable analysis.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that greater social isolation in older men and women is related to reduced everyday objective physical activity and greater sedentary time. Differences in physical activity may contribute to the increased risk of ill-health and poor wellbeing associated with isolation.

Keywords: Ageing; Loneliness; Objective physical activity; Older adults; Social isolation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing was approved by the National Research Ethics Service and participants gave informed consent. Data are available to registered users of the UK Data Service.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mean accelerometer counts per minute avearged over each hour of the 24 h period. Data for weekdays are shown in the upper panel; data for weekend days are shown in the lower panel. Isolated participants are in hatched bars and not isolated in solid bars
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Average number of mintues per hour spent in sedentary behavior, light and moderate/vigorous physical activity. Isolated participants are in hatched bars and not isolated in solid bars
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Berkman LF, Krishna A. Social network epidemiology. In: Berkman LF, Kawachi I, Glymour MM, editors. Social Epidemiology. 2. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2015. pp. 234–289.
    1. Coyle CE, Dugan E. Social isolation, loneliness and health among older adults. J Aging Health. 2012;24:1346–1363. doi: 10.1177/0898264312460275. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Perissinotto CM, Covinsky KE. Living alone, socially isolated or lonely—what are we measuring? J Gen Intern Med. 2014;(11):1429–31. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Baker M, Harris T, Stephenson D. Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: a meta-analytic review. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2015;10:227–237. doi: 10.1177/1745691614568352. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Berkman LF, Melchior M, Chastang J-F, Niedhammer I, Leclerc A, Goldberg M. Social integration and mortality: a prospective study of French employees of Electricity of France-gas of France: the GAZEL cohort. Am J Epidemiol. 2004;159:167–174. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwh020. - DOI - PubMed