Long-term care need, loneliness, and perceived social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from the German Ageing Survey

TY - JOUR

T1 - Long-term care need, loneliness, and perceived social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from the German Ageing Survey

AU - Hajek, André

AU - Grupp, Katharina

AU - Aarabi, Ghazal

AU - Gyasi, Razak Mohammed

AU - Freak-Poli, Rosanne

AU - Kretzler, Benedikt

AU - König, Hans-Helmut

N1 - © 2023. The Author(s).

PY - 2023/6

Y1 - 2023/6

N2 - BACKGROUND: There is a complete lack of studies focusing on the association between care degree (reflecting the long-term care need) and loneliness or social isolation in Germany.AIMS: To investigate the association between care degree and loneliness as well as perceived social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.METHODS: We used data from the nationally representative German Ageing Survey, which covers community-dwelling middle-aged and older individuals aged 40 years or over. We used wave 8 of the German Ageing Survey (analytical sample: n = 4334 individuals, mean age was 68.9 years, SD: 10.2 years; range 46-100 years). To assess loneliness, the De Jong Gierveld instrument was used. To assess perceived social isolation, the Bude and Lantermann instrument was used. Moreover, the level of care was used as a key independent variable (absence of care degree (0); care degree 1-5).RESULTS: After adjusting for various covariates, regressions showed that there were no significant differences between individuals without a care degree and individuals with a care degree of 1 or 2 in terms of loneliness and perceived social isolation. In contrast, individuals with a care degree of 3 or 4 had higher loneliness (β = 0.23, p = 0.034) and higher perceived social isolation scores (β = 0.38, p < 0.01) compared to individuals without a care degree.DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS: Care degrees of 3 or 4 are associated with higher levels of both loneliness and perceived social isolation. Longitudinal studies are required to confirm this association.

AB - BACKGROUND: There is a complete lack of studies focusing on the association between care degree (reflecting the long-term care need) and loneliness or social isolation in Germany.AIMS: To investigate the association between care degree and loneliness as well as perceived social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.METHODS: We used data from the nationally representative German Ageing Survey, which covers community-dwelling middle-aged and older individuals aged 40 years or over. We used wave 8 of the German Ageing Survey (analytical sample: n = 4334 individuals, mean age was 68.9 years, SD: 10.2 years; range 46-100 years). To assess loneliness, the De Jong Gierveld instrument was used. To assess perceived social isolation, the Bude and Lantermann instrument was used. Moreover, the level of care was used as a key independent variable (absence of care degree (0); care degree 1-5).RESULTS: After adjusting for various covariates, regressions showed that there were no significant differences between individuals without a care degree and individuals with a care degree of 1 or 2 in terms of loneliness and perceived social isolation. In contrast, individuals with a care degree of 3 or 4 had higher loneliness (β = 0.23, p = 0.034) and higher perceived social isolation scores (β = 0.38, p < 0.01) compared to individuals without a care degree.DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS: Care degrees of 3 or 4 are associated with higher levels of both loneliness and perceived social isolation. Longitudinal studies are required to confirm this association.

U2 - 10.1007/s40520-023-02411-0

DO - 10.1007/s40520-023-02411-0

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 37099237

VL - 35

SP - 1377

EP - 1384

JO - AGING CLIN EXP RES

JF - AGING CLIN EXP RES

SN - 1594-0667

IS - 6

ER -