Social disconnectedness, subsequent medical conditions, and, the role of pre-existing mental disorders: a population-based cohort study
Abstract Aims Individuals with diminished social connections are at higher risk of mental disorders, dementia, circulatory conditions and musculoskeletal conditions. However, evidence is limited by a disease-specific focus and no systematic examination of sex differences or the role of pre-existing...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2024-01-01
|
| Series: | Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2045796024000829/type/journal_article |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1841526415454896128 |
|---|---|
| author | L. M. Laustsen M. Lasgaard N. C. Momen D. Chen J. L. Gradus M. S. Grønkjær M. M. Jensen O. Plana-Ripoll |
| author_facet | L. M. Laustsen M. Lasgaard N. C. Momen D. Chen J. L. Gradus M. S. Grønkjær M. M. Jensen O. Plana-Ripoll |
| author_sort | L. M. Laustsen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract
Aims
Individuals with diminished social connections are at higher risk of mental disorders, dementia, circulatory conditions and musculoskeletal conditions. However, evidence is limited by a disease-specific focus and no systematic examination of sex differences or the role of pre-existing mental disorders.
Methods
We conducted a cohort study using data on social disconnectedness (loneliness, social isolation, low social support and a composite measure) from the 2013 and 2017 Danish National Health Survey linked with register data on 11 broad categories of medical conditions through 2021. Poisson regression was applied to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRRs), incidence rate differences (IRDs), and explore sex differences and interaction with pre-existing mental disorders.
Results
Among 162,497 survey participants, 7.6%, 3.5% and 14.8% were classified as lonely, socially isolated and with low social support, respectively. Individuals who were lonely and with low social support had a higher incidence rate in all 11 categories of medical conditions (interquartile range [IQR] of IRRs, respectively 1.26–1.49 and 1.10–1.14), whereas this was the case in nine categories among individuals who were socially isolated (IQR of IRRs, 1.01–1.31). Applying the composite measure, the highest IRR was 2.63 for a mental disorder (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.38–2.91), corresponding to an IRD of 54 (95% CI, 47–61) cases per 10,000 person-years. We found sex and age differences in some relative and absolute estimates, but no substantial deviations from additive interaction with pre-existing mental disorders.
Conclusions
This study advances our knowledge of the risk of medical conditions faced by individuals who are socially disconnected. In addition to the existing evidence, we found higher incidence rates for a broad range of medical condition categories. Contrary to previous evidence, our findings suggest that loneliness is a stronger determinant for subsequent medical conditions than social isolation and low social support.
A preregistered analysis plan and statistical code are available at Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/pycrq).
|
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4929590116f14e59b3d6de8d7b89ee1d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-7960 2045-7979 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-4929590116f14e59b3d6de8d7b89ee1d2025-01-16T21:49:34ZengCambridge University PressEpidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences2045-79602045-79792024-01-013310.1017/S2045796024000829Social disconnectedness, subsequent medical conditions, and, the role of pre-existing mental disorders: a population-based cohort studyL. M. Laustsen0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1007-7557M. Lasgaard1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5808-8883N. C. Momen2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9832-8500D. Chen3J. L. Gradus4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1459-5327M. S. Grønkjær5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7049-0952M. M. Jensen6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7603-2007O. Plana-Ripoll7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6470-7465Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark DEFACTUM – Public Health Research, Central Denmark Region, Aarhus, DenmarkDEFACTUM – Public Health Research, Central Denmark Region, Aarhus, Denmark Department of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, DenmarkDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, DenmarkDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, DenmarkDepartment of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USACenter for Clinical Research and Prevention, Copenhagen University Hospital – Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, DenmarkDEFACTUM – Public Health Research, Central Denmark Region, Aarhus, DenmarkDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark National Centre for Register-based Research, Aarhus University, Aarhus, DenmarkAbstract Aims Individuals with diminished social connections are at higher risk of mental disorders, dementia, circulatory conditions and musculoskeletal conditions. However, evidence is limited by a disease-specific focus and no systematic examination of sex differences or the role of pre-existing mental disorders. Methods We conducted a cohort study using data on social disconnectedness (loneliness, social isolation, low social support and a composite measure) from the 2013 and 2017 Danish National Health Survey linked with register data on 11 broad categories of medical conditions through 2021. Poisson regression was applied to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRRs), incidence rate differences (IRDs), and explore sex differences and interaction with pre-existing mental disorders. Results Among 162,497 survey participants, 7.6%, 3.5% and 14.8% were classified as lonely, socially isolated and with low social support, respectively. Individuals who were lonely and with low social support had a higher incidence rate in all 11 categories of medical conditions (interquartile range [IQR] of IRRs, respectively 1.26–1.49 and 1.10–1.14), whereas this was the case in nine categories among individuals who were socially isolated (IQR of IRRs, 1.01–1.31). Applying the composite measure, the highest IRR was 2.63 for a mental disorder (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.38–2.91), corresponding to an IRD of 54 (95% CI, 47–61) cases per 10,000 person-years. We found sex and age differences in some relative and absolute estimates, but no substantial deviations from additive interaction with pre-existing mental disorders. Conclusions This study advances our knowledge of the risk of medical conditions faced by individuals who are socially disconnected. In addition to the existing evidence, we found higher incidence rates for a broad range of medical condition categories. Contrary to previous evidence, our findings suggest that loneliness is a stronger determinant for subsequent medical conditions than social isolation and low social support. A preregistered analysis plan and statistical code are available at Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/pycrq). https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2045796024000829/type/journal_articlechronic conditionsepidemiologymental healthrisk factorssocial network |
| spellingShingle | L. M. Laustsen M. Lasgaard N. C. Momen D. Chen J. L. Gradus M. S. Grønkjær M. M. Jensen O. Plana-Ripoll Social disconnectedness, subsequent medical conditions, and, the role of pre-existing mental disorders: a population-based cohort study Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences chronic conditions epidemiology mental health risk factors social network |
| title | Social disconnectedness, subsequent medical conditions, and, the role of pre-existing mental disorders: a population-based cohort study |
| title_full | Social disconnectedness, subsequent medical conditions, and, the role of pre-existing mental disorders: a population-based cohort study |
| title_fullStr | Social disconnectedness, subsequent medical conditions, and, the role of pre-existing mental disorders: a population-based cohort study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Social disconnectedness, subsequent medical conditions, and, the role of pre-existing mental disorders: a population-based cohort study |
| title_short | Social disconnectedness, subsequent medical conditions, and, the role of pre-existing mental disorders: a population-based cohort study |
| title_sort | social disconnectedness subsequent medical conditions and the role of pre existing mental disorders a population based cohort study |
| topic | chronic conditions epidemiology mental health risk factors social network |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2045796024000829/type/journal_article |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lmlaustsen socialdisconnectednesssubsequentmedicalconditionsandtheroleofpreexistingmentaldisordersapopulationbasedcohortstudy AT mlasgaard socialdisconnectednesssubsequentmedicalconditionsandtheroleofpreexistingmentaldisordersapopulationbasedcohortstudy AT ncmomen socialdisconnectednesssubsequentmedicalconditionsandtheroleofpreexistingmentaldisordersapopulationbasedcohortstudy AT dchen socialdisconnectednesssubsequentmedicalconditionsandtheroleofpreexistingmentaldisordersapopulationbasedcohortstudy AT jlgradus socialdisconnectednesssubsequentmedicalconditionsandtheroleofpreexistingmentaldisordersapopulationbasedcohortstudy AT msgrønkjær socialdisconnectednesssubsequentmedicalconditionsandtheroleofpreexistingmentaldisordersapopulationbasedcohortstudy AT mmjensen socialdisconnectednesssubsequentmedicalconditionsandtheroleofpreexistingmentaldisordersapopulationbasedcohortstudy AT oplanaripoll socialdisconnectednesssubsequentmedicalconditionsandtheroleofpreexistingmentaldisordersapopulationbasedcohortstudy |