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A Meta-analysis of Loneliness and Risk of Dementia using Longitudinal Data from >600,000 Individuals
Luchetti M, Aschwanden D, Sesker AA, Zhu X, O'Súilleabháin PS, Stephan Y, Terracciano A, Sutin AR. Nature Mental Health, 2024-11
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Plain-language summary
Pooling data on more than 600,000 people, this meta-analysis found that people who reported feeling lonely had about a 30% higher risk of developing dementia overall, and even higher risk for vascular dementia specifically, even after accounting for depression and objective social isolation.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Luchetti, M., Aschwanden, D., Sesker, A. A., Zhu, X., O'Súilleabháin, P. S., Stephan, Y., et al. (2024). A Meta-analysis of Loneliness and Risk of Dementia using Longitudinal Data from >600,000 Individuals. Nature Mental Health.
Vancouver
Luchetti M, Aschwanden D, Sesker AA, Zhu X, O'Súilleabháin PS, Stephan Y, et al. A Meta-analysis of Loneliness and Risk of Dementia using Longitudinal Data from >600,000 Individuals. Nature Mental Health. 2024.
BibTeX
@article{luchetti2024-8b280fca,
author = {Luchetti, M. and Aschwanden, D. and Sesker, A. A. and Zhu, X. and O'Súilleabháin, P. S. and Stephan, Y. and Terracciano, A. and Sutin, A. R.},
title = {{A Meta-analysis of Loneliness and Risk of Dementia using Longitudinal Data from >600,000 Individuals}},
journal = {Nature Mental Health},
year = {2024}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. This record has no DOI, so the citation leaves it out. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 8 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Loneliness was linked to a 31% higher risk of all-cause dementia (HR 1.306)
- The risk was even higher for Alzheimer's disease specifically (HR 1.393) and vascular dementia (HR 1.735)
- Loneliness was also linked to a smaller but significant increase in general cognitive impairment (HR 1.150)
- These associations held even after statistically controlling for depression and social isolation, suggesting loneliness has an effect distinct from simply lacking social contact
Why it matters
People who reported feeling lonely had about 31% higher risk of all-cause dementia, with higher risk for Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia specifically, even after accounting for depression and social isolation. This identifies loneliness as a risk factor, but the pooled observational data cannot show that reducing loneliness prevents dementia.
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Study details
- Study designmeta-analysis
- Participants608,561
- Effect sizeAll-cause dementia HR 1.306 (95% CI 1.197-1.426); Alzheimer's disease HR 1.393 (95% CI 1.290-1.504, 5 samples); vascular dementia HR 1.735 (95% CI 1.483-2.029, 3 samples); cognitive impairment HR 1.150 (95% CI 1.113-1.189, 16 samples)
- Evidence strengthHigh
Limitations
Loneliness is self-reported and subjective, which can introduce measurement variability across the pooled samples; as an observational meta-analysis, it cannot establish that reducing loneliness would causally lower dementia risk.
How this study scored 81/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a meta-analysis pooling many studies. Scored zero for indexed in PubMed because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multicenter collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 50 of the 62 points we could judge it on, which is 81 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Nature Mental Health) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 12 / 12 | A meta-analysis pooling many studies |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2024 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 4 / 4 | 608,561 participants |
| Effect reported | 3 / 3 | Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | A review of other studies — randomization is not credited here |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multicenter collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 0 / 2 | No PubMed ID and no DOI — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 50 / 62 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 50 of the 62 points we could judge it on is 81 out of 100. |
| Total | 81 / 100 | — |
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