The relation of social isolation, loneliness, and social support to disease outcomes among the elderly.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined relations between social isolation, loneliness, and social support to health outcomes in a sample of New Mexico seniors.


METHODS
We used random-digit dialing to obtain a random sample of 755 southern New Mexico seniors. Participants answered questions pertaining to demographics, social isolation and loneliness, social support, and disease diagnosis including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, liver disease, arthritis, emphysema, tuberculosis, kidney disease, cancer, asthma, and stroke. The sample allowed for comparison of Caucasian and Hispanic participants.


RESULTS
Correlational and logistic analyses indicated that belongingness support related most consistently to health outcomes. Ethnic subgroup analysis revealed similarities and differences in the pattern of associations among the predictor and outcome variables.


CONCLUSIONS
The results demonstrate the importance of social variables for predicting disease outcomes in the elderly and across ethnic groups.
Tomaka
Joe
J
Department of Health Promotion, University of Texas at El Paso, TX 79902, USA. jtomaka@utep.edu.
Thompson
Sharon
S
Palacios
Rebecca
R
D000368:Aged; D005006:Ethnicity; D005190:Family; D006304:Health Status; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D009516:New Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D012934:Social Isolation / Q000523:psychology; D012944:Social Support; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology