Loneliness
In recent years, a considerable body of research has shown that loneliness is associated with both mental and physical health conditions, as well as premature mortality. Like many countries across the developed world, Denmark has an ageing population and a Danish research team recently completed a GP-based survey to analyse the social relations of patients aged 65 years and over.1 Across 12 practices, 461 patients completed their questionnaire. A total of 36.2% had a high, 45.5% had a medium, and 18.3% had a low social participation. Anxiety and depressive symptoms, living alone, and low social participation were the most important predictive variables …