RT Journal
A1 Bucholz EM, Krumholz HM
T1 Loneliness and living alone: Comment on “loneliness in older persons” and “living alone and cardiovascular risk in outpatients at risk of or with atherothrombosis”
JF Archives of Internal Medicine
JO Archives of Internal Medicine
YR 2012
FD July 23
VO 172
IS 14
SP 1084
OP 1085
DO 10.1001/archinternmed.2012.2649
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2012.2649
AB 
Studies have consistently shown an association between social support and improved health. This association persists regardless of the measure used or the population studied. In this issue of the Archives, Perissinotto et al1 examine the effect of loneliness in a population of older adults. They find that lonely participants have a higher risk of mortality and are more likely to experience a decline in activities of daily living compared with participants categorized as not lonely. Similarly, Udell et al,2 also in this issue, investigate the impact of living alone on cardiovascular risk and mortality in a study of outpatients at risk of, or with, atherothrombosis. They report an association between living alone and increased mortality, particularly among younger adults. In addition to mortality and functional decline, social support has been associated with readmission, quality of life, recovery time, and medical complications, making it an ostensibly useful variable to measure and track.