“Loneliness is a sad disease”: oldest old adults’ empirical definition of loneliness and social isolation from a mixed-method study in Northern Italy

Abstract Background Loneliness and social isolation can occur at any stage of life, but some predictors may be more common among older adults. Due to growing population ageing, loneliness and social isolation are relevant social issues. Many studies apply the main definitions of loneliness and socia...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sara Santini, Mauro Colombo, Antonio Guaita, Paolo Fabbietti, Georgia Casanova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-01-01
Series:BMC Geriatrics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-025-05678-2
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832571325389996032
author Sara Santini
Mauro Colombo
Antonio Guaita
Paolo Fabbietti
Georgia Casanova
author_facet Sara Santini
Mauro Colombo
Antonio Guaita
Paolo Fabbietti
Georgia Casanova
author_sort Sara Santini
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Loneliness and social isolation can occur at any stage of life, but some predictors may be more common among older adults. Due to growing population ageing, loneliness and social isolation are relevant social issues. Many studies apply the main definitions of loneliness and social isolation offered by the literature without considering how individual representations, socio-cultural context and the culture of care may influence their perception. This study wishes to fill in these literature gaps by analysing empirical definitions of loneliness and social isolation arising from a mixed-gender randomized sample of Italian oldest old people. Methods Between January and March 2019, 132 older people, most aged 80+, living in a northern Italian town, were asked to answer a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. According to a mixed-method analysis the definitions of loneliness and social isolation were analysed by respondents’ gender, living arrangement (e.g., living alone or with partners or other people), and years of education to find possible associations to the meanings attributed to the two concepts. Results The sample was gender-balanced and mid-low educated; more than one fourth of respondents lived alone. The results underline how the empirical definitions of loneliness and social isolation are closer to each other than the academic ones. The two concepts are often perceived by participants as distinct, but they are strongly interconnected so that they can be used interchangeably by older Italian people. The two main themes identified by the analysis are loneliness as “death” and social isolation as “guilt”. In the respondents’ opinion, the main loneliness driver is the loss of loved, close persons, while social isolation is driven by disability. Age, educational level, and living arrangements did not influence the meanings attributed to social isolation. On the contrary, living arrangement (P = 0.002) and educational level (p = 0.023) seem to influence the empirical definitions of loneliness. Conclusion The knowledge of the meanings that oldest old give to the two concepts may inspire advanced intervention aimed at buffering the psychological and social consequences of loneliness and social isolation in the older population.
format Article
id doaj-art-b3a1968c857f4c85a8d530239017da42
institution Kabale University
issn 1471-2318
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series BMC Geriatrics
spelling doaj-art-b3a1968c857f4c85a8d530239017da422025-02-02T12:41:43ZengBMCBMC Geriatrics1471-23182025-01-0125111610.1186/s12877-025-05678-2“Loneliness is a sad disease”: oldest old adults’ empirical definition of loneliness and social isolation from a mixed-method study in Northern ItalySara Santini0Mauro Colombo1Antonio Guaita2Paolo Fabbietti3Georgia Casanova4IRCCS – INRCA National Institute of Health & Science on Aging, Centre for Socio-Economic Research on AgingGolgi Cenci FoundationGolgi Cenci FoundationIRCCS INRCA-National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing, Center for Biostatistic and Applied Geriatric Clinical EpidemiologyIRCCS – INRCA National Institute of Health & Science on Aging, Centre for Socio-Economic Research on AgingAbstract Background Loneliness and social isolation can occur at any stage of life, but some predictors may be more common among older adults. Due to growing population ageing, loneliness and social isolation are relevant social issues. Many studies apply the main definitions of loneliness and social isolation offered by the literature without considering how individual representations, socio-cultural context and the culture of care may influence their perception. This study wishes to fill in these literature gaps by analysing empirical definitions of loneliness and social isolation arising from a mixed-gender randomized sample of Italian oldest old people. Methods Between January and March 2019, 132 older people, most aged 80+, living in a northern Italian town, were asked to answer a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. According to a mixed-method analysis the definitions of loneliness and social isolation were analysed by respondents’ gender, living arrangement (e.g., living alone or with partners or other people), and years of education to find possible associations to the meanings attributed to the two concepts. Results The sample was gender-balanced and mid-low educated; more than one fourth of respondents lived alone. The results underline how the empirical definitions of loneliness and social isolation are closer to each other than the academic ones. The two concepts are often perceived by participants as distinct, but they are strongly interconnected so that they can be used interchangeably by older Italian people. The two main themes identified by the analysis are loneliness as “death” and social isolation as “guilt”. In the respondents’ opinion, the main loneliness driver is the loss of loved, close persons, while social isolation is driven by disability. Age, educational level, and living arrangements did not influence the meanings attributed to social isolation. On the contrary, living arrangement (P = 0.002) and educational level (p = 0.023) seem to influence the empirical definitions of loneliness. Conclusion The knowledge of the meanings that oldest old give to the two concepts may inspire advanced intervention aimed at buffering the psychological and social consequences of loneliness and social isolation in the older population.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-025-05678-2Oldest oldLonelinessSocial isolationEmpirical definitionExperimental studyEpistemology
spellingShingle Sara Santini
Mauro Colombo
Antonio Guaita
Paolo Fabbietti
Georgia Casanova
“Loneliness is a sad disease”: oldest old adults’ empirical definition of loneliness and social isolation from a mixed-method study in Northern Italy
BMC Geriatrics
Oldest old
Loneliness
Social isolation
Empirical definition
Experimental study
Epistemology
title “Loneliness is a sad disease”: oldest old adults’ empirical definition of loneliness and social isolation from a mixed-method study in Northern Italy
title_full “Loneliness is a sad disease”: oldest old adults’ empirical definition of loneliness and social isolation from a mixed-method study in Northern Italy
title_fullStr “Loneliness is a sad disease”: oldest old adults’ empirical definition of loneliness and social isolation from a mixed-method study in Northern Italy
title_full_unstemmed “Loneliness is a sad disease”: oldest old adults’ empirical definition of loneliness and social isolation from a mixed-method study in Northern Italy
title_short “Loneliness is a sad disease”: oldest old adults’ empirical definition of loneliness and social isolation from a mixed-method study in Northern Italy
title_sort loneliness is a sad disease oldest old adults empirical definition of loneliness and social isolation from a mixed method study in northern italy
topic Oldest old
Loneliness
Social isolation
Empirical definition
Experimental study
Epistemology
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-025-05678-2
work_keys_str_mv AT sarasantini lonelinessisasaddiseaseoldestoldadultsempiricaldefinitionoflonelinessandsocialisolationfromamixedmethodstudyinnorthernitaly
AT maurocolombo lonelinessisasaddiseaseoldestoldadultsempiricaldefinitionoflonelinessandsocialisolationfromamixedmethodstudyinnorthernitaly
AT antonioguaita lonelinessisasaddiseaseoldestoldadultsempiricaldefinitionoflonelinessandsocialisolationfromamixedmethodstudyinnorthernitaly
AT paolofabbietti lonelinessisasaddiseaseoldestoldadultsempiricaldefinitionoflonelinessandsocialisolationfromamixedmethodstudyinnorthernitaly
AT georgiacasanova lonelinessisasaddiseaseoldestoldadultsempiricaldefinitionoflonelinessandsocialisolationfromamixedmethodstudyinnorthernitaly