TY  - JOUR
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”
AU  - Bucholz EM, Krumholz HM
Y1  - 2012/07/23
N1  - 10.1001/archinternmed.2012.2649
JO  - Archives of Internal Medicine
SP  - 1084
EP  - 1085
VL  - 172
IS  - 14
N2  - 
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.

SN  - 0003-9926
M3  - doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2012.2649
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2012.2649
ER  -