Loneliness and Depressive Symptoms Are High Among Older Adults With Digestive Disease and Associated With Lower Perceived Health.

ABSTRACT:

Background & aims

Current approaches to managing digestive disease in older adults fail to consider the psychosocial factors contributing to a person's health. We aimed to compare the frequency of loneliness, depression, and social isolation in older adults with and without a digestive disease and to quantify their association with poor health.

Methods

We conducted an analysis of Health and Retirement Study data from 2008 to 2016, a nationally representative panel study of participants 50 years and older and their spouses. Bivariate analyses examined differences in loneliness, depression, and social isolation among patients with and without a digestive disease. We also examined the relationship between these factors and health.

Results

We identified 3979 (56.0%) respo

SUBMITTER: Cohen-Mekelburg S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11451329 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature