Singapore, 7th July 2021 - The Beatles' 1966 hit 'Eleanor Rigby,' which was a song that shocked the world when it reached number one in Britain for four weeks, cemented the loneliness of older people. The impact of loneliness in old-age on health and life expectancy has been analyzed in an unprecedented study published by scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, Nihon University in Tokyo, Japan, and their collaborators in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society."We found that lonely older adults are more likely to have a shorter lifespan than those who perceive themselves as alone," said Assistant Professor Rahul Malhotra of Duke-NUS' Centre for Ageing Research and Education. They also forfeit years of potential good health as a consequence of their shorter lives.Angelique Chan, Associate Director of CARE, and a senior author on the study, stated that "besides being the year of the coronavirus, 2019 was also the year when half of the global population aged over 30 became adults, marking the beginning of an increasingly ageing society." As a result, loneliness among seniors is a matter of public and social health concern.Research Project Professor Yasuhiko Saido, College of Economics, Nihon University. He is a senior coauthor of the study.The key findings: Being alone has real, tangible consequencesAccording to the study, people 60 years old who feel lonely or most lonely can expect to live three to five more years than peers who are never lonely. The same goes for older people who are lonely at 70 and 80. They can expect to live between three and four years and two and three years less than their non-lonely peers.Researchers used the same data to determine that loneliness perceptions have a similar effect on two types health expectancy. These are the remaining years of life in which the individual is satisfied with their health and the remaining years where they can do the activities of daily living without feeling restricted. These activities include daily routines such as bathing, dressing, getting up from and settling down in a chair or bed, and cooking meals.Seniors who are sometimes alone or mostly lonely at 60 can expect to live three to five years less without any restrictions in their daily activities. This is in comparison to their never-lonely peers. Their active life expectancy drops to between two and four years at 70. It is one to three years lower at age 80.What is the prevalence of loneliness among seniors in Singapore?Singapore is an ideal place to study loneliness in older adults. This country has a large population and a 'collectivistic culture' that values relationships and interconnectedness. In contrast to an individualistic culture where the needs and wants of each person are more important, Singapore is more relevant. Studies have shown that loneliness is more prevalent in societies with a higher level of collectivism. This suggests that loneliness could be more harmful in Singapore.CARE researchers carried out a study in 2016 and 2017 called the Transitions In Health, Employment and Social Engagement and Intergenerational Transfers (THE SIGNS). This study examined factors that influence health, well-being and activity levels as well as productivity and productivity in older Singaporeans. A third (34%), of more than 2,000 Singaporeans and permanent residents, felt lonely. This percentage increased with age, rising from 32% among 60-69 year olds to 40% among 80-year-olds.37% more males were lonely than 31% of females. The percentage of older Singaporeans who are lonely was lower (33%) for those without formal education and higher (38%) for those with more-than-tertiary education. This was almost 10% higher for seniors who lived alone (43% vs 33%)."Based on the SIGNS study, these findings highlight the population health effect of loneliness and the importance to identify and manage it among older adults," stated Asst Prof Malhotra. This is one of several studies that examine the effects of important social and health constructs such as loneliness, sensory impairments and obesity on older adults' lives and health expectancy.Assoc Prof Chan stated that older people are at greater risk of loneliness due to pandemic control measures. "The UK launched a national strategy to tackle loneliness in 2018, and Japan appointed a Minister of Loneliness in 2021. We hope that this study will inspire more policies to combat loneliness among seniors.###
