More than one-third of adults 50-80 feel lonely, isolated

Loneliness and isolation among older people in the US have mostly returned to pre-pandemic rates, but that means more than one third of people ages 50 to 80 feel lonely, and nearly as many feel isolated, a review of six years of data from the National Poll on Healthy Aging found.

And some older adults -- especially those dealing with major physical health or mental health issues -- have much higher rates of loneliness and social isolation than others. It's something active-aging organizations should be aware of.

Starting in 2018, and most recently earlier this year, the poll asked more than 2,000 older adults (different groups each year) how often they'd felt they lacked companionship, and felt isolated from others. The latest data show that in 2024, 33% of respondents felt lonely some of the time or often in the past year, about the same as the rate in 2018 (34%). During the years in between, as many as 42% had this level of loneliness.

Similarly, 29% of respondents said they felt isolated some of the time or often in 2024, just above the rate of 27% seen in 2018. During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, 56% said they had experienced this level of isolation, but the rate has declined each year since.

"At the surface, this might seem like great news, that we're back to where we were before COVID-19 struck. But that baseline was not good, and it was especially bad for some groups of older adults, who continue to have very high rates of loneliness and social isolation," said Preeti Malani, MD, MSJ, the study's lead author and a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School.

The groups of older adults with the highest rates of loneliness in 2024 – all at least double the rates in previous years -- were those who said:

Their mental health is fair or poor: 75%

Their physical health is fair or poor: 53%

They were not working or received disability income (does not include retirees): 52%

These groups also had the highest rates of isolation.

The authors advise screening people for loneliness and isolation and connecting them with resources in their communities.

SOURCE: Michigan Medicine – University of Michigan (December 9, 2024). Malani P, et al. JAMA. Published online December 9, 2024. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.23213 KEYWORDS: Loneliness, Isolation

To download the full article, click here

To access the poll, click here