Study finds social isolation or loneliness may speed up cognitive decline

Chinese researchers have recently discovered that persistent social isolation or loneliness may accelerate cognitive decline and lead to higher cognitive impairment risk.

Social isolation is the objective absence of social contact and a diminished social network. In contrast, loneliness represents a subjective assessment of how individuals find contentment in their social connections.

Researchers from the Southern Medical University and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention studied the associations of changes in social isolation, loneliness, or both, with cognitive function among older adults.

They analyzed data from 7,299 older adults in the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey and defined four change patterns for social isolation and loneliness: no change, incident, transient, and persistent.

Read: ‘Loneliness as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day’

They discovered that incident, transient, and persistent social isolation were associated with accelerated cognitive decline and higher cognitive impairment risk. Persistent loneliness was associated with accelerated cognitive decline and higher cognitive impairment risk.

Short-term or persistent social isolation with concurrent different loneliness change status accelerated cognitive decline and higher cognitive impairment risk.

The study was published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia.