Loneliness and health in Eastern Europe: findings from Moscow, Russia.
OBJECTIVE
To examine which factors are associated with feeling lonely in Moscow, Russia, and to determine whether loneliness is associated with worse health.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Data from 1190 participants were drawn from the Moscow Health Survey. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine which factors were associated with feeling lonely and whether loneliness was linked to poor health.


RESULTS
Almost 10% of the participants reported that they often felt lonely. Divorced and widowed individuals were significantly more likely to feel lonely, while not living alone and having greater social support reduced the risk of loneliness. Participants who felt lonely were more likely to have poor self-rated health (odds ratio [OR]: 2.28; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.38-3.76), and have suffered from insomnia (OR: 2.43; CI: 1.56-3.77) and mental ill health (OR: 2.93; CI: 1.88-4.56).


CONCLUSIONS
Feeling lonely is linked to poorer health in Moscow. More research is now needed on loneliness and the way it affects health in Eastern Europe, so that appropriate interventions can be designed and implemented to reduce loneliness and its harmful impact on population well-being in this setting.
Stockholm Centre on Health of Societies in Transition (SCOHOST), Södertörn University, Huddinge, Sweden; Department of Human Ecology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: andrew.stickley@sh.se.
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Stickley
Stockholm Centre on Health of Societies in Transition (SCOHOST), Södertörn University, Huddinge, Sweden.
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Koyanagi
Stockholm Centre on Health of Societies in Transition (SCOHOST), Södertörn University, Huddinge, Sweden; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, National Institute for Health Development, Tallinn, Estonia.
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Leinsalu
Stockholm Centre on Health of Societies in Transition (SCOHOST), Södertörn University, Huddinge, Sweden.
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Ferlander
Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
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Sabawoon
European Centre on Health of Societies in Transition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
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McKee
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008132:Loneliness / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009031:Moscow; D012307:Risk Factors; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D066252:Sociological Factors; D055815:Young Adult
Loneliness; Mental ill health; Moscow Health Survey; Russia; Self-rated health