Dataset Information

Loneliness and social isolation are associated with an increased risk of glaucoma: a UK Biobank cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Loneliness and social isolation have been found to be associated with various health-related outcomes. Our study aimed to evaluate the association of loneliness and social isolation with the risk of glaucoma.

Methods

A total of 373,330 participants from the UK Biobank without glaucoma at recruitment were included in this study. Self-reported questionnaires were used to define loneliness and social isolation. Incident glaucoma events were identified by hospital inpatient admissions and self-reported data. COX proportional hazards models adjusted for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health-related factors were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs.

Results

During a median follow-up of 13.1 (interquartile range: 12.3-13.9) years, 6,489 participants developed glaucoma. After adjusting for confounding factors, loneliness (yes vs. no: adjusted HR: 1.16; 95% CI: 1.04-1.30; P = 0.009) and social isolation (yes vs. no: adjusted HR: 1.08; 95% CI: 1.01-1.16; P = 0.033) were associated with an increased risk of glaucoma.

Conclusions

In this population-based prospective cohort study, loneliness and social isolation were associated with a higher risk of glaucoma.

SUBMITTER: Zhu X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11299252 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Loneliness and social isolation are associated with an increased risk of glaucoma: a UK Biobank cohort study.

Zhu Xinyu X Li Bo B Zhang Xinyu X Jiang Yujin Y Huang Yikeng Y Li Chenxin C Zheng Zhi Z Zhang Yili Y Zhu Bei B Zhao Shuzhi S

BMC public health 20240805 1

<h4>Background</h4>Loneliness and social isolation have been found to be associated with various health-related outcomes. Our study aimed to evaluate the association of loneliness and social isolation with the risk of glaucoma.<h4>Methods</h4>A total of 373,330 participants from the UK Biobank without glaucoma at recruitment were included in this study. Self-reported questionnaires were used to define loneliness and social isolation. Incident glaucoma events were identified by hospital inpatient ...[more]

PMID: 39103831

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Project description:Background: Although loneliness and social isolation are proposed as important risk factors for metabolic diseases, their associations with the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have not been elucidated. The aims of this study were to determine whether loneliness and social isolation are independently associated with the risk of NAFLD and to explore potential mediators for the observed associations. Methods: In this large prospective cohort analysis with 405,073 participants of the UK Biobank, the status of loneliness and social isolation was assessed through self-administrated questionnaires at study recruitment. The primary endpoint of interest was incident NAFLD. Multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals for the associations between loneliness, social isolation, and risk of NAFLD. Results: During a median follow-up of 13.6 years, there were 5,570 cases of NAFLD identified. In the multivariable-adjusted model, loneliness and social isolation were both statistically significantly associated with an increased risk of NAFLD (HR = 1.22 and 1.13, respectively). No significant multiplicative or additive interaction was found between loneliness and social isolation on the risk of NAFLD. The mediation analysis estimated that 30.4%, 16.2%, 5.3%, 4.1%, 10.5%, and 33.2% of the loneliness-NAFLD association was mediated by unhealthy lifestyle score, obesity, current smoking, irregular physical activity, suboptimal sleep duration, and depression, respectively. On the other hand, 25.6%, 10.1%, 15.5%, 10.1%, 8.1%, 11.6%, 9.6%, 4.8%, and 3.0% of the social isolation-NAFLD association was mediated by unhealthy lifestyle score, obesity, current smoking, irregular physical activity, suboptimal sleep duration, depression, C-reactive protein, count of white blood cells, and count of neutrophils, respectively. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that loneliness and social isolation were associated with an elevated risk of NAFLD, independent of other important risk factors. These associations were partially mediated by lifestyle, depression, and inflammatory factors. Our findings substantiate the importance of loneliness and social isolation in the development of NAFLD.

Project description:BackgroundAlthough loneliness and social isolation have been linked to an increased risk of non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and dementia, their association with the risk of severe infection is uncertain. We aimed to examine the associations between loneliness and social isolation and the risk of hospital-treated infections using data from two independent cohort studies.MethodsWe assessed the association between loneliness and social isolation and incident hospital-treated infections using data for participants from the UK Biobank study aged 38-73 years at baseline and participants from the nationwide population-based Finnish Health and Social Support (HeSSup) study aged 20-54 years at baseline. For inclusion in the study, participants had to be linked to national health registries, have no history of hospital-treated infections at or before baseline, and have complete data on loneliness or social isolation. Participants with missing data on hospital-treated infections, loneliness, and social isolation were excluded from both cohorts. The outcome was defined as a hospital admission with a primary diagnosis of infection, ascertained via linkage to electronic health records.FindingsAfter exclusion of 8·6 million participants for not responding or not providing appropriate consent, the UK Biobank cohort consisted of 456 905 participants (249 586 women and 207 319 men). 26 860 (6·2%) of 436 001 participants with available data were reported as being lonely and 40 428 (9·0%) of 448 114 participants with available data were socially isolated. During a median 8·9 years (IQR 8·0-9·6) of follow-up, 51 361 participants were admitted to hospital due to an infectious disease. After adjustment for age, sex, demographic and lifestyle factors, and morbidities, loneliness was associated with an increased risk of a hospital-treated infection (hazard ratio [HR] 1·12 [95% CI 1·07-1·16]), whereas social isolation was not (HR 1·01 [95% CI 0·97-1·04]). Of 64 797 individuals in the HeSSup cohort, 18 468 (11 367 women and 7101 men) were eligible for inclusion. 4466 (24·4%) of 18 296 were lonely and 1776 (9·7%) of 18 376 socially isolated. During a median follow-up of 10·0 years (IQR 10·0-10·1), 814 (4·4%) participants were admitted to hospital for an infectious disease. The HRs for the HeSSup study replicated those in the UK Biobank (multivariable-adjusted HR for loneliness 1·32 [95% CI 1·06-1·64]; 1·08 [0·87-1·35] for social isolation).InterpretationLoneliness might increase susceptibility to severe infections, although the magnitude of this effect appears modest and residual confounding cannot be excluded. Interventional studies are required before policy recommendations can advance.FundingAcademy of Finland, the UK Medical Research Council, and Wellcome Trust UK.

Project description:ObjectivesGiven the role of intraocular pressure in glaucoma, the patient's sleeping pattern might contribute to the development and progression of glaucoma. We performed a study to understand the association between sleep behaviours and glaucoma.DesignOur study was a prospective cohort study.SettingThis was a prospective cohort study in the UK Biobank. Self-reported data on five sleep behaviours were collected using a questionnaire at baseline. We identified four sleep patterns based on a cluster analysis of the sleep behaviours.ParticipantsIn the UK Biobank, 409 053 participants were recruited between 2006 and 2010 and followed for a diagnosis of glaucoma. We identified glaucoma as any hospital admission with a diagnosis of glaucoma, based on UK Biobank inpatient hospital data. Individuals who withdrew from the UK Biobank, or were diagnosed with glaucoma before recruitment, or had self-reported surgery or laser treatment for glaucoma, or had no information on sleep behaviors were excluded.Primary and secondary outcome measuresWe estimated hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) using Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the associations of different sleep behaviors, as well as identified sleep patterns, with the risk of glaucoma, adjusting for multiple confounders.ResultsCompared with individuals who had a healthy sleep pattern, an excess risk of any glaucoma was observed among individuals with snoring and daytime sleepiness (HR 1.11, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.19) or insomnia and short/long sleep duration (HR 1.13, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.20), but not late chronotype sleep pattern (HR 0.98, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.03).ConclusionSnoring, daytime sleepiness, insomnia, and short/long duration, individually or jointly, were all associated with the risk of glaucoma. These findings underscore the need for sleep intervention for individuals at high risk of glaucoma as well as potential ophthalmologic screening among individuals with chronic sleep problems for glaucoma prevention.

Dataset Information

Loneliness and social isolation are associated with an increased risk of glaucoma: a UK Biobank cohort study.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Loneliness and social isolation are associated with an increased risk of glaucoma: a UK Biobank cohort study.

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