RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Social and physical neighbourhood characteristics and loneliness among older adults: results from the MINDMAP project
JF Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
JO J Epidemiol Community Health
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 464
OP 469
DO 10.1136/jech-2020-214217
VO 75
IS 5
A1 Erik Timmermans
A1 Irina Motoc
A1 J Mark Noordzij
A1 Marielle A Beenackers
A1 Rita Wissa
A1 Aliou Sarr
A1 Asli Gurer
A1 Guillaume Fabre
A1 Milagros Ruiz
A1 Dany Doiron
A1 Joost Oude Groeniger
A1 Dorly Deeg
A1 Frank J Van Lenthe
A1 Martijn Huisman
YR 2021
UL http://jech.bmj.com/content/75/5/464.abstract
AB Background Loneliness is associated with several adverse mental and physical health outcomes in older adults. Previous studies have shown that a variety of individual-level and perceived area-level characteristics are associated with loneliness. This study examined the associations of objectively measured social and physical neighbourhood characteristics with loneliness.Methods We used cross-sectional data from 1959 older adults (63–98 years) who participated in the Longitudinal Ageing Study Amsterdam (LASA; wave 2011/12) and the Health and Living Conditions of the Population of Eindhoven and Surroundings study (GLOBE; wave 2014) in the Netherlands. Study-specific loneliness scores were harmonised across both cohort studies and divided into tertiles denoting low, medium and high levels of loneliness. Objectively measured neighbourhood characteristics, including area-level percentages of low educated residents, social security beneficiaries and unoccupied dwellings, average income, crime levels and land use mix, were linked to individual-level data. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations of interest.Results There was no statistical evidence for an association of the included neighbourhood characteristics with loneliness. Although not statistically significant, the observed associations suggested that participants living in neighbourhoods with more heterogeneous land use mix were less likely to have a medium and high level of loneliness than those living in more homogeneous neighbourhoods in terms of land use mix (ORmedium=0.54, 95% CI=0.18–1.67; ORhigh=0.67, 95% CI=0.21–2.11).Conclusion The results indicate that the included objectively measured social and physical neighbourhood characteristics are not associated with loneliness in old age.