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Old Age and Loneliness: Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Analyses in the Tampere Longitudinal Study on Aging

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

Marja Jylhä
Marja Jylhä*
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, University of Tampere
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to: / Les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à : Marja Jylhä, MD, PhD, Professor of Health Science, School of Public Health, FIN-33014 University of Tampere, Finland. (marja.jylha@uta.fi)
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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether older age is associated with increasing loneliness in people aged 60 and over. Data came from TamELSA, a population-based prospective longitudinal study in Tampere, Finland. The follow-up time was 20 years. Loneliness was measured by a single question – “Do you feel lonely?“ – with the possible answers often, sometimes, or never. Cross-sectional analysis showed that the percentage of subjects feeling lonely increased toward older age groups, but in a multivariate analysis, only household composition and social participation were independently associated with loneliness. Longitudinal analysis showed that loneliness increased with higher age. Over a 10-year period, loneliness increased most in those who, at baseline, were married and living alone with their spouse. In conclusion, only a minority of older people continuously suffer from loneliness. Loneliness does increase with age, not because of age per se, but because of increasing disability and decreasing social integration.

Résumé

Le but de cette étude était d'examiner si l'âge mûr est lié au phénomène de solitude accrue parmi la population desplus de 60 ans. Les données ont été fournies par TamELSA, étude prospective longitudinale basée sur la population àTampere, Finlande. Cette étude a été suivie sur une période de 20 ans. La solitude a été évaluée à l'aide d'une seulequestion : « Vous sentez-vous seul ? », avec pour réponses alternatives, « souvent », « parfois » ou « jamais ». Une analysetransversale a permis de montrer que le pourcentage des sujets se sentant seuls parmi les groupes de personnesd'âge mûr avait augmenté ; cependant, dans une analyse multivariée, seuls les facteurs de la composition du foyer etde la participation sociale étaient indépendamment liés au phénomène de solitude. L'analyse longitudinale a montréque la solitude augmentait avec l'âge. Sur une période de 10 ans, la solitude a augmenté surtout pour ceux qui étaientmariés ou vivaient seuls avec leur époux/épouse à la base. En conclusion, seule une minorité de personnes âgées souffrentcontinuellement de la solitude. La solitude s'accroît en effet avec l'âge, non pas à cause de l'âge per se, mais en raisonde la perte accrue des capacités et de l'intégration sociale affaiblie.

Keywords

agingfollow-uplongitudinal studieslonelinessold agewell-beingvieillissementsuiviétudes longitudinalessolitudevieillissementbien-être
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 23 , Special Issue/Numéro special 2: Social Isolation and Loneliness/Isolement social et solitude , Summer/Été 2004 , pp. 157 - 168
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2004

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