{"title":"Loneliness Trajectories Predict Risks of Cardiovascular Diseases in Chinese Middle-Aged and Older Adults.","authors":"Yan Huang, Xinyi Zhu, Xiaomei Liu, Juan Li","doi":"10.1093/geronb/gbae018","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Loneliness is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), but related evidence is mixed. Examining trajectories of loneliness over time, as compared to the assessment of loneliness at a single time point, can be useful to better understand the risks for CVD. The present study aimed to examine loneliness trajectories and their impacts on CVD in Chinese middle-aged and older adults.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The sample included 9,235 adults aged 45 years and older from 4 waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey from 2011 to 2018. Loneliness was assessed by a single-item question with a 4-point scale. CVD events were measured by self-reports of heart diseases and strokes in 2018.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Group-based trajectory modeling showed that 3 loneliness trajectories emerged: stable low, moderate increasing, and high increasing loneliness. Binary logistic regression showed that loneliness trajectories were significantly associated with the risk of having CVD after controlling for all covariates. Specifically, compared to the group with stable low loneliness, people with moderate increasing loneliness had a higher risk of having stroke, and people with high increasing loneliness had higher risks of having both heart diseases and stroke. In contrast, loneliness at a single time point was not independently associated with the risk of having CVD.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The present study identified groups of people vulnerable to CVD from the perspective of social connections in terms of loneliness trajectories. Middle-aged and older adults showing increasing loneliness may need social and emotional support to protect their cardiovascular health.</p>","PeriodicalId":56111,"journal":{"name":"Journals of Gerontology Series B-Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journals of Gerontology Series B-Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbae018","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objectives: Loneliness is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), but related evidence is mixed. Examining trajectories of loneliness over time, as compared to the assessment of loneliness at a single time point, can be useful to better understand the risks for CVD. The present study aimed to examine loneliness trajectories and their impacts on CVD in Chinese middle-aged and older adults.
Methods: The sample included 9,235 adults aged 45 years and older from 4 waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey from 2011 to 2018. Loneliness was assessed by a single-item question with a 4-point scale. CVD events were measured by self-reports of heart diseases and strokes in 2018.
Results: Group-based trajectory modeling showed that 3 loneliness trajectories emerged: stable low, moderate increasing, and high increasing loneliness. Binary logistic regression showed that loneliness trajectories were significantly associated with the risk of having CVD after controlling for all covariates. Specifically, compared to the group with stable low loneliness, people with moderate increasing loneliness had a higher risk of having stroke, and people with high increasing loneliness had higher risks of having both heart diseases and stroke. In contrast, loneliness at a single time point was not independently associated with the risk of having CVD.
Discussion: The present study identified groups of people vulnerable to CVD from the perspective of social connections in terms of loneliness trajectories. Middle-aged and older adults showing increasing loneliness may need social and emotional support to protect their cardiovascular health.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences publishes articles on development in adulthood and old age that advance the psychological science of aging processes and outcomes. Articles have clear implications for theoretical or methodological innovation in the psychology of aging or contribute significantly to the empirical understanding of psychological processes and aging. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, attitudes, clinical applications, cognition, education, emotion, health, human factors, interpersonal relations, neuropsychology, perception, personality, physiological psychology, social psychology, and sensation.