RT Journal
A1 Perissinotto C, Covinsky KE
T1 HEalth status in elderly persons living alone—reply
JF JAMA Internal Medicine
JO JAMA Internal Medicine
YR 2013
FD February 25
VO 173
IS 4
SP 323
OP 324
DO 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.2136
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.2136
AB 
We appreciate the comments submitted by Rozzini and Trabucchi and Simons et al and commend their work in exploring the effects of living alone and social support on health. As demonstrated in our article,1 one cannot equate loneliness and social isolation because what they each measure captures a different aspect of overall social support. Because of its subjective nature, loneliness is a much more complex phenomenon and has health effects that can be seen even in those who are living with others and therefore not truly quantitatively socially isolated.