title: Loneliness and health-related quality of life for the empty nest elderly in the rural area of a mountainous county in China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate whether loneliness was associated with quality of life and examined the influence of socio-economic factors in the empty nest elderly.
  
  
  METHODS
  The 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLA-LS) were used to assess the quality of life and loneliness for 275 empty nest and 315 not empty nest rural elders in a county, China. T tests, Pearson's correlations and linear regression analysis were used to examine the difference in SF-36 and UCLA-LS scores, correlations of the two scores between the two groups, and socio-economic determinants of loneliness among the empty nest elders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Empty nest group, in comparison with not empty nest group, had higher level of loneliness (95% confidence interval [CI] = -3.361 to -.335), lower physical (95% CI = .228 to 6.044) and mental (95% CI = .866 to 6.380) scores. Loneliness was negatively correlated with all the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey scales in both groups. Social supports and income were negatively associated with loneliness, whereas education level and being single were positively associated with loneliness for the empty nest group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Reducing the level of loneliness may be helpful to improve the quality of life for the empty nest elders.
authors: Training Department, The Second Military Medical University, 800 Xiangyin Road, Shanghai 200433, P.R. China.
authors: Li-Juan
authors: LJ
authors: Liu
authors: Qiang
authors: Q
authors: Guo
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D012424:Rural Population; D012934:Social Isolation; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
references: Scand J Public Health. 2006;34(6):632-40
references: 17132597
references: Psychol Aging. 2006 Mar;21(1):140-51
references: 16594799
references: Gerontology. 2006;52(3):181-7
references: 16645299
references: Can J Aging. 2004 Summer;23(2):157-68
references: 15334815
references: Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2007 May-Jun;44(3):299-314
references: 16935363
references: Public Health Rep. 2007 May-Jun;122(3):407-13
references: 17518313
references: J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2000 Sep;55(5):P311-9
references: 10985296
references: Psychol Rep. 1988 Oct;63(2):591-4
references: 3222422
references: Qual Life Res. 2006 Jun;15(5):925-32
references: 16721651
references: Psychol Health Med. 2006 May;11(2):221-32
references: 17129910
references: Cas Lek Cesk. 2003 Aug;142(8):505-7
references: 14626568
references: J Pers Soc Psychol. 1980 Sep;39(3):472-80
references: 7431205
references: Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2006 Jan-Feb;16 Suppl 1:472-7
references: 16515647
references: Z Gerontol. 1986 Sep-Oct;19(5):323-35
references: 3544552
references: Z Alternsforsch. 1980;35(6):475-80
references: 7222739
references: MMWR CDC Surveill Summ. 1999 Dec 17;48(8):131-56
references: 10634273
references: J Aging Health. 2006 Jun;18(3):359-84
references: 16648391
references: Aging Clin Exp Res. 2005 Dec;17(6):494-501
references: 16485868
references: Genet Soc Gen Psychol Monogr. 1996 Nov;122(4):453-73
references: 8976599