Background: Loneliness has been associated with poor physical health and a link has been suggested between the presence of loneliness, cardiovascular health and inflammatory markers.
Objective: To investigate the association between vascular disease biomarkers and loneliness in a community-dwelling non-demented elderly population.
Design: cross-sectional community based assessment.
Participants: 466 subjects with mean age 75.45 (SD, 6.06) years. 208 (44.6%) were male.
Results: Higher levels of HbA1c, but not other vascular biomarkers were independently associated with being lonely.
Conclusion: Loneliness was associated with raised levels of HbA1c in a community dwelling elderly population. The mechanism for this association has yet to be elucidated but may reflect an abnormal stress response in people who are lonely.
Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.