Prevalence and Associated Factors of Social Isolation among Older Adults in Tehran City / 2020

Objective: Studies show social isolation is one of the most important issues in aging that negatively affects quality of life and health of older adults. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence and associated factors of social isolation among older adults in Tehran in 2020. Tools and Methods: Data for this secondary analysis study were obtained from a large cross-sectional study conducted on older adults in Tehran in 2020. Data collection was conducted from January to March 2020. The Persian validated version of Lubben Social Network-6 Scale (LSNS-6) was used to measure social isolation. The demographic characteristics (age, sex, marital status, living arrangements and number of children), socio-economic status (level of education, employment status and household income) and health status of the elderly (chronic medical conditions and use of assistive devices) were collected using checklist. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 23 at the bivariate level and multivariate logistic regression. The significance level was considered at p≤0.05. Results:The study sample consisted of 1280 older adults aged 60 years and older with an almost equal sex distribution. The mean age of the respondents was found to be 70.97 (SD=8.07) years.  In terms of employment status 40.2% of the sample were retired. In terms of living arrangement about 12.4% of the respondent were living alone. The prevalence of social isolation was found to be 30.8%.  The results of bivariate analysis using a series of chi-square tests revealed that living arrangement (P<0.001, X2=46.93) , marital status (P<0.001, X2=26.91) , household income (P<0.001, X2=67.44) , level of education (P<0.05, X2=20.26) , employment status (P <0.001, X2=29.21) , musculoskeletal problems (P<0.001, X2=15.47) , respiratory problems (P<0.05, X2=10.43)  , visual problems (P<0.05, X2=4.4) , hyperlipidemia (P<0.001, X2=13.53) , and glasses use  (P <0.05, X2=3.92) were significantly associated with social isolation. The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis emerged a significant model (X2 (26) = 188.35, P<0.001) to predict social isolation.  The model revealed that sex-being male (P <0.05, OR = 1.7), living with a spouse (P<0.05, OR = 0.4), heart disease (P<0.05, OR = 1.42), diabetes (P <0.05, OR = 1.41), household income (P<0.001, OR=5.82), being unemployed (P<0.001, OR=2.13) , hyperlipidemia (P<0.001, OR = 0.58), and living in developed areas (P <0.001, OR = 2.02) were significantly contributed to social isolation. Conclusion: The results of the present study revealed that chronic medical conditions, socioeconomic and demographics characteristics significantly contribute to social isolation imply that policymakers and health professionals make appropriate plans such as screening and preventive programmes to reduce and control contributing risk factors of social isolation among older adults in Tehran.