Association between Sense of Loneliness and Quality of Life in Older Adults with Multimorbidity

Background: Multimorbidity has been associated with adverse health outcomes, such as reduced physical function, poor quality-of-life (QoL), poor self-rated health.

Objective: The association between quality of life, social support, sense of loneliness and sex and age in older adult patients affected by two or more chronic diseases (multimorbidity) was evaluated.

Methods: Patients n. 162 with multimorbidity and living with family members.

Tests: MMSE-Mini-Mental-State-Examination; ADL-Activities of Daily Living; Social Schedule: demographic variables; Loneliness Scale -de Jong Gierveld; Quality-of-Life-FACT-G; WHOQOL-BRIEF Social relationships.

Statistical analysis: Multivariate Regression Analysis.

Results: The patients with three or more diseases have worse dimensions of FACT-G total score (p = 0.029), QoL Physical-well-being (p = 0.003), Social well-being (p = 0.003), Emotional-well-being (p = 0.012), Functional-well-being (p < 0.001), than those with two. Multiple linear regression QoL: FACT_G total score, PWB, SWB, EWB, FWB as dependent variables. In the presence of multimorbidity with an increase in the patient's age FACT-G total score (B = -0.004, p = 0.482), PWB (B = -0.024, p = 0.014), SWB (B = -0.022, p = 0.051), EWB (B = -0.001, p = 0.939), FWB (B = -0.023, p = 0.013) decrease by an average of 0.1, and as the sense of solitude increases FACT-G total score (B = -0.285, p < 0.000), PWB (B = -0.435, p < 0.000), SWB(B = -0.401, p < 0.000), EWB(B = -0.494, p < 0.000), FWB(B = -0.429, p < 0.000) decrease by 0.4.

Conclusions: A sense of loneliness and advancing age are associated with bad quality-of life in self-sufficient elderly patients with multimorbidity.

Implications for practice: Demonstrating that loneliness, as well as in the presence of interpersonal relations, is predictive of worse quality of life in patients with multimorbidity helps identify people most at risk for common symptoms and lays the groundwork for research concerning both diagnosis and treatment.