Loneliness in later life: a longitudinal analysis using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

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Research has consistently demonstrated that social relationships are key to a good quality of life in old age (Bowling 2005). Loneliness is one measure of compromised social relationships and is a significant problem for older people with approximately 42% of those aged 65+ in England reporting loneliness (10% reporting severe loneliness and 32% reporting moderate loneliness). This equates to 3.2 million individuals in England. Loneliness has important negative consequences for both older adults and society being linked with a range of negative health, social and service use outcomes. Death rates for older people who are lonely are 50% higher; emergency hospital admission rates are a third (30%) higher and GP consultation rates 3 times higher (the lonely consult 10 times year) compared with those who are not lonely.We know the percentage of older people who are lonely and the groups most likely to experience loneliness in later life including those who are widowed, those with fewer material resources and those with poor health. However our understanding of loneliness is based upon studies which measure loneliness at a single point in time. We do not have good evidence examining how loneliness may change as people grow older and we do not understand the pathways into and out of loneliness in later life nor the factors which might help people recover from loneliness (or contribute to the onset of loneliness). Also much of the evidence describing the poor health outcomes for lonely older people are based upon research undertaken in America and we cannot be certain that these findings apply to our population.Because of the importance of loneliness as a problem for older people a range of services to combat loneliness have been developed but few have shown that they actually achieve this aim. We suggest that part of the failure of current services is because we do not understand the pathways into and out of loneliness; the characteristics of those groups who move/into and out of loneliness; the factors that are linked with changes in loneliness and how social and health factors are linked to loneliness pathways. The availability of this information may help us to design services that are more timely and tailored to the needs of individual older people and so help to promote quality of life in old age. In our project we will explore changes in loneliness over time for people aged 50 and over using a large existing data set (the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing) which has followed people up from 2002 to 2010 longitudinally. For 6,600 people we will describe how loneliness has changed over the 8 years they have been in the study and identify the factors that are linked with both the onset or worsening of loneliness and those linked with improvements in loneliness. We will also examine the link between loneliness at the start of the study and health status 8 years later. In particular we will be able to examine the link between loneliness and health status. Research in America has reported a link between loneliness and dementia but this has not been studied in Britain. We will also be able to test out the oft quoted statement that the health effects of loneliness are equivalent in magnitude to those attributed to smoking. We will also be able to compare two different methods of measuring loneliness and determine which is the best to measure loneliness and which is the best way to look at changes in loneliness.Our project aims to contribute to this important academic, policy and practice agenda by developing our understanding of the pathways into and out of loneliness in later life and establishing the health status and service use consequences of loneliness in later life.