Loneliness and social isolation among informal carers of individuals with dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

IF 3.6 3区医学 Q2 GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY

International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Pub Date : 2024-05-16 DOI:10.1002/gps.6101

Xinqi Liao, Zhong Wang, Qinglin Zeng, Yanli Zeng

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the prevalence of loneliness and social isolation among informal carers of individuals with dementia and to identify potential influencing factors.

Methods

We conducted a comprehensive search across 10 electronic databases, including PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Scopus, Chinese Biomedical, China National Knowledge Internet, and WANFANG. Our search strategy covered the inception of the databases up to September 16, 2023, with an updated search conducted on March 8, 2024. Prevalence estimates of loneliness and social isolation, presented with 95% confidence intervals, were synthesized through meta-analysis. Subgroup analyses and meta-regression were employed to explore potential moderating variables and heterogeneity.

Results

The study encompassed 27 research papers involving 11,134 informal carers from 17 different countries. The pooled prevalence of loneliness among informal carers of individuals with dementia was 50.8% (95% CI: 41.8%–59.8%), while the pooled prevalence of social isolation was 37.1% (95% CI: 26.7%–47.6%). Subgroup analyses and meta-regression indicated that various factors significantly influenced the prevalence of loneliness and social isolation. These factors included the caregiving setting, study design, the intensity of loneliness, geographical location (continent), data collection time, and the choice of assessment tools.

Conclusions

This study underscores the substantial prevalence of loneliness and social isolation among informal carers of individuals with dementia. It suggests that policymakers and healthcare providers should prioritize the development of targeted interventions and support systems to alleviate loneliness and social isolation within this vulnerable population.

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痴呆症患者非正式照护者的孤独感和社会隔离：系统回顾与荟萃分析。

研究目的本系统综述和荟萃分析旨在确定孤独感和社会隔离在痴呆症患者非正式照护者中的流行程度，并找出潜在的影响因素：我们对10个电子数据库进行了全面检索，包括PubMed、Cochrane、Embase、Web of Science、PsycINFO、CINAHL、Scopus、中国生物医学、中国知网和万方数据库。我们的检索策略涵盖了从数据库建立之初到 2023 年 9 月 16 日的所有内容，并在 2024 年 3 月 8 日进行了更新检索。我们通过荟萃分析对孤独和社会隔离的流行率估计值进行了综合，并给出了 95% 的置信区间。采用分组分析和元回归来探讨潜在的调节变量和异质性：研究涵盖 27 篇研究论文，涉及来自 17 个不同国家的 11 134 名非正规照护者。在痴呆症患者的非正式照护者中，孤独感的总体流行率为50.8%（95% CI：41.8%-59.8%），而社会隔离的总体流行率为37.1%（95% CI：26.7%-47.6%）。分组分析和元回归表明，各种因素对孤独感和社会隔离感的发生率有显著影响。这些因素包括护理环境、研究设计、孤独感的强度、地理位置（大陆）、数据收集时间以及评估工具的选择：本研究强调了在痴呆症患者的非正式照护者中，孤独和社会隔离现象非常普遍。研究建议，政策制定者和医疗服务提供者应优先发展有针对性的干预措施和支持系统，以减轻这一弱势群体的孤独感和社会隔离感。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

6.10

自引率

2.50%

发文量

168

审稿时长

4-8 weeks

期刊介绍： The rapidly increasing world population of aged people has led to a growing need to focus attention on the problems of mental disorder in late life. The aim of the Journal is to communicate the results of original research in the causes, treatment and care of all forms of mental disorder which affect the elderly. The Journal is of interest to psychiatrists, psychologists, social scientists, nurses and others engaged in therapeutic professions, together with general neurobiological researchers. The Journal provides an international perspective on the important issue of geriatric psychiatry, and contributions are published from countries throughout the world. Topics covered include epidemiology of mental disorders in old age, clinical aetiological research, post-mortem pathological and neurochemical studies, treatment trials and evaluation of geriatric psychiatry services.