Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1
Mean loneliness score by zip code of residence in (A) Northern Virginia, (B) Metro Richmond, Virginia, and (C) Metro Denver, Colorado.
Tables
- Table 1
Associations Between Loneliness and Geospatial Variables, by Zip Code Tabulation Area of Residence
Pearson Correlation P Value Economic variables Poverty (<200% federal poverty line) 0.35 0.02 Social Deprivation Index scorea 0.42 <0.01 Unemployed, % 0.49 <0.01 Less than high school education, % 0.45 <0.01 Median household income –0.29 0.02 Demographic variables Median age –0.07 0.52 Female/male ratio 0.27 <0.01 Race (% black) 0.18 <0.01 Ethnicity (% Hispanic) –0.13 0.27 Linguistically isolated households, %b 0.04 0.76 Household size 1 person, % 0.29 0.01 Average household size –0.07 0.53 Transportation variables Mean travel time to work 0.15 <0.01 Households with no vehicle, % 0.34 <0.01 Health care access variables Without health insurance, % 0.12 <0.01 Without usual source of health care, % 0.37 <0.01 ↵a The Social Deprivation Index is a composite measure of social and material deprivation encompassing education, housing, transportation, and poverty.
↵b Households are considered linguistically isolated if all individuals ages 14 years and older in the household speak a language other than English and none speaks English well.
The Article in Brief
Geographic Characteristics of Loneliness in Primary Care
Sebastian Tong , and colleagues
Background There is growing evidence of the effects of loneliness on aspects of health, but little is known about whether loneliness is associated with where we live. This study set out to determine the associations between community factors and loneliness.
What This Study Found Living in zip codes with higher unemployment, poor access to health care, lower income, and poor transportation are associated with higher mean loneliness scores. The findings were based on responses to the Three-Item Loneliness Scale screening tool. Of 1,235 survey respondents, 20 percent were identified as lonely. Higher mean loneliness scores were associated with a number of neighborhood characteristics: greater poverty, higher social deprivation, higher proportions of unemployment, more one-person households, more female residents, more black residents, higher mean travel time to work, higher percentage of households with no vehicle, a higher percentage of residents without health insurance, and a higher percentage of residents with no usual source of medical care.
Implications
- Given the associations between loneliness and other community-level factors, screening for loneliness may be a proxy for other social needs, the authors suggest.
- The authors call on primary care practices to take a leading role in developing and testing interventions for loneliness and to consider loneliness as an important social concern for their patients.
