Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for type 2 diabetes onset: A systematic review and meta-analysis

IF 6.1 3区医学 Q1 ENDOCRINOLOGY & METABOLISM

Diabetes research and clinical practice Pub Date : 2025-03-22 DOI:10.1016/j.diabres.2025.112124

Yasmin Ezzatvar , Óscar Caballero , Daniel Duclos-Bastias , Rodrigo Yáñez-Sepúlveda , Antonio García-Hermoso

{"title":"Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for type 2 diabetes onset: A systematic review and meta-analysis","authors":"Yasmin Ezzatvar , Óscar Caballero , Daniel Duclos-Bastias , Rodrigo Yáñez-Sepúlveda , Antonio García-Hermoso","doi":"10.1016/j.diabres.2025.112124","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Aims</h3><div>This study sought to analyze the association of social isolation and loneliness with the risk of type 2 diabetes onset.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Two authors systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases for studies published until February 2025, assessing the risk of incidence of type 2 diabetes in individuals who are socially isolated or lonely. To quantify the risk of incident diabetes, hazard ratios (HR) for loneliness and social isolation were pooled using a random-effects inverse-variance model with empirical Bayes estimation.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Nine prospective cohort studies were included, comprising 1,112,887 individuals (60.5 % female, mean age = 57.1 years), with 50,961 new cases of type 2 diabetes over a mean follow-up of 10.7 years. Loneliness was associated with a 32% increased risk of type 2 diabetes (HR = 1.32 [95 % confidence interval [CI]:1.11–1.57]). Social isolation was linked to a 20% higher risk (HR = 1.20 [95 %CI:1.01–1.43]). The included studies showed fair-to-good methodological quality (mean score: 10.11/14) based on the Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Social isolation and loneliness are significant risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Addressing social connectedness could be a valuable strategy for diabetes prevention, emphasizing the need to incorporate psychosocial factors into public health initiatives.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11249,"journal":{"name":"Diabetes research and clinical practice","volume":"223 ","pages":"Article 112124"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Diabetes research and clinical practice","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016882272500138X","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENDOCRINOLOGY & METABOLISM","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Aims

This study sought to analyze the association of social isolation and loneliness with the risk of type 2 diabetes onset.

Methods

Two authors systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases for studies published until February 2025, assessing the risk of incidence of type 2 diabetes in individuals who are socially isolated or lonely. To quantify the risk of incident diabetes, hazard ratios (HR) for loneliness and social isolation were pooled using a random-effects inverse-variance model with empirical Bayes estimation.

Results

Nine prospective cohort studies were included, comprising 1,112,887 individuals (60.5 % female, mean age = 57.1 years), with 50,961 new cases of type 2 diabetes over a mean follow-up of 10.7 years. Loneliness was associated with a 32% increased risk of type 2 diabetes (HR = 1.32 [95 % confidence interval [CI]:1.11–1.57]). Social isolation was linked to a 20% higher risk (HR = 1.20 [95 %CI:1.01–1.43]). The included studies showed fair-to-good methodological quality (mean score: 10.11/14) based on the Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies.

Conclusions

Social isolation and loneliness are significant risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Addressing social connectedness could be a valuable strategy for diabetes prevention, emphasizing the need to incorporate psychosocial factors into public health initiatives.

查看原文本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Diabetes research and clinical practice 医学-内分泌学与代谢

CiteScore

10.30

自引率

3.90%

发文量

862

审稿时长

32 days

期刊介绍： Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice is an international journal for health-care providers and clinically oriented researchers that publishes high-quality original research articles and expert reviews in diabetes and related areas. The role of the journal is to provide a venue for dissemination of knowledge and discussion of topics related to diabetes clinical research and patient care. Topics of focus include translational science, genetics, immunology, nutrition, psychosocial research, epidemiology, prevention, socio-economic research, complications, new treatments, technologies and therapy.