Syddansk Universitet Social relations and loneliness among older patients consulting their general practitioner Due,

IntroductIon: Social relations are important for people and affect their quality of life, morbidity and mortality. This holds true especially for older persons. General practitioners (GPs) are in a unique position to address social relations and loneliness; however, no GP population-based studies have assessed older patients’ social relations and loneliness. The aim of this study was to analyse the social relations and loneliness of patients aged 65 years and above consulting their GP. Methods: This survey counted the participation of 12 general practices in the Capital Region of Denmark. During a three-week period, the practices invited their patients to fill out a questionnaire on health, social relations and loneliness. results: Of 767 eligible patients, 474 were included and 461 answered one or more items about social participation or loneliness. A total of 36.2% had a high, 45.5% had a medium and 18.3% had a low social participation; and 17.9% often or occasionally felt lonely. Higher social participation was associated with a lower degree of loneliness. However, several patients answered in a manner not fitting the expected association. Anxiety and depressive symptoms, living alone and low social participation were the most im port ant predictive variables for loneliness. Only 15.2% of the lonely patients had talked to their GP about their loneliness. conclusIons: A total of 17.9% of older patients stated that they were lonely either often or occasionally. The most important predictors were: anxiety and depressive symptoms, living alone and low social participation. The lonely patients rarely shared these issues with their GP. The study also reveals a need to discuss the assessment of social participation and loneliness in both research and practice. FundIng: Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces. The EGV Foundation. The Committee of Multipractice Studies in General Practice. trIal regIstratIon: not relevant. Besides affecting quality of life, limited social relation and loneliness among older persons increase the risk of functional decline and the risk of both physical and mental morbidity (particularly cardiovascular disease and depression) and premature mortality [1-4]. The influence on mortality has been found to be comparable to established risk factors such as physical activity, obesity and smoking [5]. In Denmark, it is assumed that poor social relationships cause 1,000-1,500 annual deaths, equivalent to about 2% of all deaths [6]. The prevalence of loneliness among older persons varies in international studies [7]. The general practitioner (GP) may play a significant role in identifying lonely older persons and in helping prevent that a feeling of loneliness leads to illness and social isolation [8]. The aim of this study was to describe and analyse social relations and loneliness among older patients consulting their GP. mEthOds material This study was a survey counting 12 general practices with a total of 20 GPs located in the Capital Region of Denmark. During a three-week period, each practice consecutively invited their patients aged 65 years and above, regardless of the reason for their visit, to fill out a questionnaire regarding health, social relations and loneliness. Patients gave informed written consent for their participation. Excluded were patients who were unable to speak or read Danish, unable to answer the questionnaire, unable to sign an informed consent form, and patients with severe acute or terminal illness (Figure 1). Data were collected from February to September 2014. The first author instructed all participating practi ces in data collection. The GPs received an honorarium of 18 euro for each recruited patient. Questionnaire The questionnaire consisted of three parts: 1. Socio-demographics, use of homecare and patient affiliation to the practice. 2. Information about health, smoking and alcohol consumption: a. Self-rated health measured by a single item from the Short Form 36 (SF-36) health que stionnaire: “In general, would you say your health is” with the following five response categories: excellent, good, fair, poor and very poor [9]. b. Subjective memory complaints measured by a single item used in primary care studies: “How would you assess your memory? ” with social relations and loneliness among older patients consulting their general practitioner Tina Drud Due1, Håkon Sandholdt1 & Frans Boch Waldorff1, 2