Loneliness as a risk factor for high level of comorbidities and low quality of life in elderly population (non solum study): multicentered prospective cohort study

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Loneliness is a very common feeling in our environment and it can be a very intense experience in older people, due to the loss of complete abilities and capacities, which are fully complete when we are younger. Especially chronic loneliness is the one that has been more related to health problems, both physical and mental. Comorbidity on elderly population seems to be a good way to correlate all pathologies and deficits they suffer. Comorbidity hinders the process of a good state of health. It must be treated as a global condition with comprehensive approach according to severity, prognosis and possibility to treat. Nowadays quality of life has become more important in clinical practice, it is no longer following a paternalist model. Today patient’s opinion is taken into account regarding his or her state of health. That is why quality of life is an information needed in investigations and mostly on elder population who seems to have a worse perception of health state and quality of life.

OBJECTIVES

The main objectives of this study are to evaluate if people who suffer loneliness could develop a major level of comorbidities and develop a worse perception of their quality of life

DESIGN This study has been designed as a multicentric prospective dynamic cohort study.

METHODS

Data will be obtained with Estació Clinica d’Atenció Primària (ECAP) program, which is registered in routine medical visits. An ECAP manager will recruit all people who fulfill our criteria and then we will randomly select 401 candidates. To assure we do not have enough participants we will randomly select another 10%. So, at the end we will select a sample of 441 possible candidates. We will follow-up our participants during six years and administer them University of

California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale, Cumulative Illness Rating Scale- Geriatrics (CIRS-G) and QL-5D-5L each year. All data collection will be performed on the

ECAP program, specifically on “Intel·ligència Clínica Activa”, where there will be a section with the name of the study, Non Solum.

PARTICIPANTS

The exposed cohort will include individuals who are 65 years old or over who feel lonely and the non-exposed cohort will include people aged 65 years old or over who do not feel loneliness. All of them will be from Girona Health Region