Bad company: Loneliness longitudinally predicts the symptom cluster of pain, fatigue, and depression in older adults.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Pain, fatigue, and depression frequently co-occur as a symptom cluster. While commonly occurring in those with cancer and autoimmune disease, the cluster is also found in the absence of systemic illness or inflammation. Loneliness is a common psychosocial stressor associated with the cluster cross-sectionally. We investigated whether loneliness predicted the development of pain, fatigue, depression, and the symptom cluster over time.

Methods

Data from the Health and Retirement Study were used. We included self-respondents ≥50 year-old who had at least two measurements of loneliness and the symptom cluster from 2006-2016 (n = 5974). Time-varying loneliness was used to predict pain, fatigue, depression, and the symptom cluster in the subsequent wave(s) using general

SUBMITTER: Powell VD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9378441 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature