Loneliness may not make you sick, new research says, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t tackle it

When was the last time you felt lonely? It’s an uncomfortable question, but for 3.83 million people in the UK, 7.1% of the population, the answer is probably “at the moment”.

Loneliness has become a worrying public health problem because it Ordinary and is often associated with people who physical and mental health problems. There is now tax money is spent at local, national and international levels on initiatives to minimise loneliness and the damaging effects it can have on people’s health. But are these investments misjudged?

New research from Guangzhou Medical University in China has challenged the notion that loneliness can cause poor health. Instead, the findings suggest that loneliness can be considered an associated feature for many diseases (a so-called “surrogate marker”), because it has not been shown to be a primary cause of poor physical and mental health.

The researchers used data from the UK Biobank in which more than half a million people aged 37 to 73 were asked how often they felt lonely. They carried out analyses based on the distribution of genetic variants in the population (known as “Mendelian randomization”) to investigate the causal effect of loneliness on a wide range of diseases, including physical and mental health problems.

This is certainly an interesting study; however, there are several points to consider when reflecting on the findings. It is important to note that UK Biobank data are not the best for testing the causal effects of loneliness on health.

Although many participants have taken part in the UK Biobank, it is volunteers who have the tendency to white, older and have a higher level of education than the general UK population. Many participants also have healthier lifestyles than the general population.

Although loneliness does not discriminate and can affect anyone, regardless of age and background, this participation bias may influence the findings because it hide important associations.

The study also captured a snapshot of loneliness from a single time in adulthood. We all experience loneliness, but its impact on health depends on the age at which someone feels lonely, why they feel lonely, and for how long. This detail is not captured in this data.

Some of our own research in this area shows that mental health problems and poor general functioning often go hand in hand with feelings of loneliness. However, our findings also show that loneliness in early adolescence can have long-lasting effects, particularly in relation to to education And employment prospects– the so-called ‘socio-economic outcomes’.

This study also measured loneliness in participants in their late 30s and older. Again, previous research has shown that loneliness can begin early in life and is associated with later depression And poor socio-economic outcomesboth of which are considered important factors related to health in this article.

It is ideal to conduct analyses using data from studies that observe people from childhood to old age, and that measure loneliness in childhood and health in later life. This will help us better understand the relationship between loneliness and health.

This study also used hospitalization data to determine health outcomes. While this type of data is valuable, it only collects information from participants seeking treatment and represents the tip of the iceberg when it comes to disease. Loneliness may affect health in more subtle ways that are not captured here.

However, this is not meant to be too critical of the study. The importance of depression and socioeconomic status as mechanisms through which loneliness translates into poor health is a key message from this study. For example, loneliness can result in difficulties at work or deteriorating mental healthwhich in turn can increase the risk of physical illness.

Identifying surrogate markers of ill health is also valuable because it opens the door to better and earlier ways of supporting vulnerable people. For example, someone may not feel comfortable disclosing that they are experiencing symptoms of depression, but they may feel comfortable talking about their feelings of loneliness. Loneliness can be a red flag in some circumstances. This is particularly important when illnesses are associated with stigma, as many mental health conditions are.

Loneliness is intertwined with a range of health problems throughout the lifespan and is considered both a contributing factor to and an outcome of ill health. This study acknowledges that.

Loneliness has a complex relationship with health

Measuring the importance of loneliness for public health relevance as a purely causal factor is too simplistic and complicated a relationship to health. This is where further research using data representative of the general population is needed. It would allow researchers to unravel the pervasive role of loneliness in shaping health and well-being for all people.

What this study cannot answer is an important question: should we continue to invest in initiatives designed to address loneliness as a way to improve population health? As always, the answer is not binary.

Although this study may not report a causal relationship between loneliness and disease, ample evidence suggests that it precedes, accompanies And results of poor health. Current strategies appear to be of limited effectiveness, particularly for people with lower incomes and less education.

Taking into account that loneliness is associated with mental health problems and low socioeconomic status, and better understanding the mechanisms underlying loneliness, can make these initiatives more effective.

This article has been republished from The conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.