Cardiometabolic & kidneyCohort study
Joint association of loneliness and traditional risk factor control and incident cardiovascular disease in diabetes patients
- Prospective cohort study
- UK Biobank
Authors' conclusion
Among diabetes patients, loneliness, but not social isolation scale, is associated with a higher risk of CVD and shows an additive interaction with the degree of risk factor control.
Study context
- Population
- Participants diagnosed with diabetes, UK Biobank
- Participants
- 18,509 participants
- Exposure
- Loneliness scale 1 and 2 vs 0
- Outcome
- Incident CVD
- Follow-up
- Mean 10.7 years
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
CVD
Each group vs loneliness 0Hazard ratio (95% CI)
Loneliness 1
1.11(1.02 and 1.20)
Loneliness 2
1.26(1.11 and 1.42)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Social isolation and cardiovascular disease (CVD)
- No significant associations for social isolation
Relative strength for predicting CVD
- Loneliness ranked higher than lifestyle risk factors
Loneliness × degree of risk factor control (HbA1c, blood pressure (BP), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), smoking, kidney condition)
- Significant additive interaction on CVD risk
- P for additive interaction = 0.005
Original publication
Joint association of loneliness and traditional risk factor control and incident cardiovascular disease in diabetes patients. Eur Heart J. Published 29 June 2023. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehad306
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it