Reflections on measures of social isolation among older adults

Aug 10, 2023

Nature Aging (2023)Cite this article

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In 2020, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine reported on opportunities for the healthcare system to address social isolation and loneliness, which are risk factors for morbidity and mortality1. Shortly after the report was released, the COVID-19 pandemic ensued — which pushed social isolation up the research and public health agendas as broad swathes of the population experienced this phenomenon. Studies demonstrate social isolation as a key risk factor for adverse physical, mental and cognitive health outcomes1,2. Despite these implications, the research community lacks consensus on how to measure social isolation, which hinders progress toward solutions to combat this challenge.

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This work was supported by the Health Services and Outcomes Research for Aging Populations Training Program funded by the National Institute on Aging, grant no. T32AG066576. T.K.M.C. was supported by the National Institute on Aging 1K23AG075191, the Caryl & George Bernstein Human Aging Project in the Johns Hopkins University Center for Innovative Medicine, and the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Endowed Professorship.

School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

Mary Louise Pomeroy, Emerald Jenkins & Thomas K. M. Cudjoe

Roger C. Lipitz Center for Integrated Health Care, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

Mary Louise Pomeroy & Thomas K. M. Cudjoe

Department of Psychology, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Fereshteh Mehrabi

Ageing Research and Development Division, Institute of Public Health, Dublin, Ireland

Roger O’Sullivan

Bamford Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Ulster University, Coleraine, UK

Roger O’Sullivan

Luskin School of Public Affairs, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

James Lubben

School of Social Work, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA

James Lubben

Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

Thomas K. M. Cudjoe

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M.L.P. conceived the idea for this Correspondence, with guidance from T.K.M.C., F.M., E.J. and R.O. M.L.P., F.M. and E.J. were major contributors in writing the initial manuscript. T.K.M.C., R.O. and J.L. provided critical revisions and content expertise. All authors provided iterative review, read and approved the final manuscript. Authorship has been granted only to those individuals who have contributed substantially to this research and manuscript.

Correspondence to Mary Louise Pomeroy.

T.K.M.C. has previously received consulting fees from Edenbridge Healthcare. All other authors declare no competing interests.

Nature Aging thanks Andrew Steptoe for his contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Pomeroy, M.L., Mehrabi, F., Jenkins, E. et al. Reflections on measures of social isolation among older adults. Nat Aging (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-023-00472-4

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Published: 28 August 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-023-00472-4

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