The key facts

  • Isolation and loneliness were assessed separately: objective contacts versus the subjective feeling
  • The most isolated group was on average 'older' by about four months, lonely people by three
  • The differences are small and are not a prediction for any particular individual

What the data from 310,000 people showed

Social isolation and the feeling of loneliness are associated with a slight increase in estimated biological age, and the highest figures are seen in people who experienced both conditions at once. This is reported by Gazeta.Ru citing a study published in the journal Health Psychology.

How the study was conducted

Researchers from Chinese medical institutions used data from 309,746 UK Biobank participants. The participants' average age at the start of follow-up was about 56 years, and the median follow-up duration was 14.4 years. The results were published in the journal Health Psychology.

Isolation and loneliness are not the same thing

The authors assessed the two conditions separately. Isolation reflected objective features of social contact: living alone, infrequent meetings, and the absence of regular group activities. Loneliness was the subjective feeling and the lack of a person to confide in. Biological age was calculated using the PhenoAge formula based on blood markers related to inflammation and organ function, and the result was then compared with what would be expected for the participant's actual age.

How large is the difference

After accounting for lifestyle, socioeconomic conditions, and diseases, the most isolated group was on average older by the estimated measure by about four months, lonely participants by about three months, and the difference was greatest when the two factors were combined. The authors emphasize that these are small average differences in an estimated indicator and should not be understood as a loss of the corresponding number of months of life or as a prediction for any particular individual. Observational data also do not allow one to definitively separate the influence of social ties from the reverse situation, in which declining health itself makes communication more difficult. In the authors' view, objective isolation and subjective loneliness are important to study as distinct components of health.