Loneliness and general health of elderly

Authors

  • Khodadadi , Naeema
  • Reza Masouleh , Shadman
  • Yazdani , Mohammad Ali
Abstract:

Introduction: In recent years attention to elderly is progressing rapidly in countries. Special &lrm;attention to their mental and physical need is necessary. Loneliness may occur in all age &lrm;groups, but this is more a problem peculiar to the elderly. Loneliness is a complex concept, &lrm;specially affecting the psychosocial well-being of the elderly. The feelings of loneliness have &lrm;serious consequence on the health of older adults.&lrm; Objective: The purpose of the study was to determine loneliness and general health of &lrm;members of the elderly pensioners association of Gilan University of Medical Science in &lrm;Rasht.&lrm; Methods: This study was a descriptive&ndash; correlational research. Sampling performed, through &lrm;easy sampling method. &lrm;&rlm;100&rlm;&lrm; members of pensioners association from both gender (female and &lrm;male) took part in the study. Data collection instrument was a questionnaire consisted of three &lrm;parts. Part one was about demographic data, part two about loneliness that was measured by &lrm;the UCLA loneliness scale, and part three was general health status with &lrm;&rlm;28&rlm;&lrm; questions. Data &lrm;were analyzed by descriptive-analytical methods, using SPSS &lrm;&rlm;16&rlm;&lrm;.&lrm; Results: In this study it was found that married elderly people (p<&lrm;&rlm;0.02&rlm;&lrm;) who were satisfied &lrm;with living area (p<&lrm;&rlm;0.045&rlm;&lrm;) felt less lonely than others. According to the results of this study &lrm;the elderly who defined their general health status as good felt less lonely (p<&lrm;&rlm;0.00&rlm;&lrm;).&lrm; Conclusion: It was demonstrated that loneliness is an important factor decreasing general &lrm;health and therefore, early identification of loneliness may help maintain the general health of &lrm;older adults. Health care professionals should be alert to the association of loneliness and &lrm;adverse health outcomes.&lrm;

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Journal title

volume 21  issue 2

pages  28- 34

publication date 2011-10

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