A new meta-analysis published in the journal PLoS One suggests that loneliness tends to have an adverse effect on all-cause mortality. The association is stronger in men compared with women.
Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 31 studies identified through a literature search on PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Scopus databases.
Overall, loneliness was associated with an increased risk for all-cause mortality (HR, 1.22; P<.001). The association remained significant (HR, 1.21; P=.001) even after excluding studies which only analysed cardiovascular mortality, cancer mortality and respiratory mortality. When stratified by sex, overall HR was 1.26 (P=.005) for women and 1.44 (P<.001) for men.
The higher risk for mortality in men can be possibly attributed to a variety of reasons including reluctance to admit loneliness, greater adverse effect of widowhood, negative attitudes towards care seeking, increased inflammatory responses linked to loneliness and tendency to adopt unhealthy lifestyles during loneliness.
The authors call for further research to fully understand the differential impact of loneliness in women and men, and across various age groups.