Associations between loneliness and acute hospitalisation outcomes among patients receiving mental healthcare in South London: a retrospective cohort study.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol
; 57(2): 397-410, 2022 Feb.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33877370
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
It is well known that loneliness can worsen physical and mental health outcomes, but there is a dearth of research on the impact of loneliness in populations receiving mental healthcare. This study aimed to investigate cross-sectional correlates of loneliness among such patients and longitudinal risk for acute general hospitalisations.METHOD:
A retrospective observational study was conducted on the data from patients aged 18 + receiving assessment/care at a large mental healthcare provider in South London. Recorded loneliness status was ascertained among active patients on the index date, 30th Jun 2012. Acute general hospitalisation (emergency/elective) outcomes were obtained until 31st Mar 2018. Length of stay was modelled using Poisson regression models and time-to hospitalisation and time-to mortality were modelled using Cox proportional hazards regression models.RESULTS:
The data from 26,745 patients were analysed. The prevalence of patients with recorded loneliness was 16.4% at the index date. In the fully adjusted model, patients with recorded loneliness had higher hazards of emergency (HR 1.15, 95% CI 1.09-1.22) and elective (1.05, 1.01-1.12) hospitalisation than patients who were not recorded as lonely, and a longer duration of both emergency (IRR 1.06, 95% CI 1.05-1.07) and elective (1.02, 1.01-1.03) general hospitalisations. There was no association between loneliness and mortality. Correlates of loneliness included having an eating disorder (OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.29-2.25) and serious mental illnesses (OR 1.44, 1.29-1.62).CONCLUSION:
Loneliness in patients receiving mental healthcare is associated with higher use of general hospital services. Increased attention to the physical healthcare of this patient group is therefore warranted.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Solidão
/
Serviços de Saúde Mental
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article