Table 1 Demographic characteristics, health, social, and health service use in 44,518 Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging Tracking and Comprehensive Follow-up 1 survey respondents from 2015-2018 by loneliness (lonely, not lonely) and gender (men, women, gender diverse)
Variables | Total | Lonely (n=44,518) | Std. difference | Men (n=21,722) | Women (n=22,740) | Gender Diverse (n=39) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lonely | Lonely | Lonely | ||||||||
No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | |||
N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | ||
Total | 44518 (100) | 34255 (76.9) | 10263 (23.1) | Â | 17239 (79.4) | 4483 (20.6) | 16975 (74.6) | 5765 (25.4) | 28 (71.8) | 11 (28.2) |
ED visit | ||||||||||
 Yes | 10009 (22.5) | 7216 (21.1) | 2793 (27.2) | 0.14 | 3614 (21) | 1180 (26.3) | 3595 (21.2) | 1606 (27.9) | 0-5 | 6 (54.5) |
 No | 34385 (77.2) | 26956 (78.7) | 7429 (72.4) | 0.15 | 13590 (78.8) | 3281 (73.2) | 13333 (78.5) | 4140 (71.8) | 23 (82.1) | 0-5 |
Age (years) | ||||||||||
 <65 | 21201 (47.6) | 16253 (47.4) | 4948 (48.2) | 0.02 | 7922 (46) | 2187 (48.8) | 8314 (49) | 2751 (47.7) | 15 (53.6) | 7 (63.6) |
 65+ | 23317 (52.4) | 18002 (52.6) | 5315 (51.8) | 0.02 | 9317 (54) | 2296 (51.2) | 8661 (51) | 3014 (52.3) | 13 (46.4) | 0-5 |
Education | ||||||||||
 Less than university | 22882 (51.4) | 17320 (50.6) | 5562 (54.2) | 0.07 | 8038 (46.6) | 2242 (50) | 9265 (54.6) | 3317 (57.5) | 9 (32.1) | 0-5 |
 University or higher | 18965 (42.6) | 15106 (44.1) | 3859 (37.6) | 0.13 | 8310 (48.2) | 1907 (42.5) | 6774 (39.9) | 1945 (33.7) | 18 (64.3) | 0-5 |
Ethnicity | ||||||||||
 All else | 1634 (3.7) | 1150 (3.4) | 484 (4.7) | 0.07 | 660 (3.8) | 253 (5.6) | 490 (2.9) | 231 (4) | 0-5 | 0-5 |
 White | 42884 (96.3) | 33105 (96.6) | 9779 (95.3) | 0.07 | 16579 (96.2) | 4230 (94.4) | 16485 (97.1) | 5534 (96) | 28 (100) | 11 (100) |
Geographic region | ||||||||||
 Rural | 4648 (10.4) | 3633 (10.6) | 1015 (9.9) | 0.02 | 1841 (10.7) | 468 (10.4) | 1783 (10.5) | 546 (9.5) | 0-5 | 0-5 |
 Urban | 39870 (89.6) | 30622 (89.4) | 9248 (90.1) | 0.02 | 15398 (89.3) | 4015 (89.6) | 15192 (89.5) | 5219 (90.5) | 23 (82.1) | 11 (100) |
Income | ||||||||||
 <$20,000 | 2080 (4.7) | 1100 (3.2) | 980 (9.5) | 0.26 | 339 (2) | 334 (7.5) | 757 (4.5) | 640 (11.1) | 0-5 | 0-5 |
 $20,000-<$50,000 | 9928 (22.3) | 6826 (19.9) | 3102 (30.2) | 0.24 | 2802 (16.3) | 1183 (26.4) | 4013 (23.6) | 1916 (33.2) | 9 (32.1) | 0-5 |
 $50,000+ | 29538 (66.4) | 24224 (70.7) | 5314 (51.8) | 0.40 | 13350 (77.4) | 2667 (59.5) | 10854 (63.9) | 2642 (45.8) | 14 (50) | 0-5 |
Marital status | ||||||||||
 Single, never married | 3855 (8.7) | 2390 (7) | 1465 (14.3) | 0.24 | 1024 (5.9) | 703 (15.7) | 1356 (8) | 759 (13.2) | 0-5 | 0-5 |
 Divorced/separated | 4884 (11) | 3086 (9) | 1798 (17.5) | 0.25 | 698 (4) | 552 (12.3) | 2385 (14.1) | 1242 (21.5) | 0-5 | 0-5 |
 Married/common law | 30354 (68.2) | 25435 (74.3) | 4919 (47.9) | 0.56 | 14444 (83.8) | 2463 (54.9) | 10966 (64.6) | 2450 (42.5) | 18 (64.3) | 0-5 |
 Widowed | 5403 (12.1) | 3326 (9.7) | 2077 (20.2) | 0.30 | 1066 (6.2) | 764 (17) | 2257 (13.3) | 1311 (22.7) | 0-5 | 0-5 |
Living alone | ||||||||||
 No | 33244 (74.7) | 27287 (79.7) | 5957 (58) | 0.48 | 14910 (86.5) | 2794 (62.3) | 12350 (72.8) | 3158 (54.8) | 20 (71.4) | 0-5 |
 Yes | 11274 (25.3) | 6968 (20.3) | 4306 (42) | 0.48 | 2329 (13.5) | 1689 (37.7) | 4625 (27.2) | 2607 (45.2) | 8 (28.6) | 9 (81.8) |
Number of chronic conditions | ||||||||||
 <4 | 35697 (80.2) | 28444 (83) | 7253 (70.7) | 0.30 | 15305 (88.8) | 3562 (79.5) | 13106 (77.2) | 3683 (63.9) | 24 (85.7) | 6 (54.5) |
 4+ | 8821 (19.8) | 5811 (17) | 3010 (29.3) | 0.30 | 1934 (11.2) | 921 (20.5) | 3869 (22.8) | 2082 (36.1) | 0-5 | 0-5 |
Functional impairment | ||||||||||
 None | 37074 (83.3) | 29395 (85.8) | 7679 (74.8) | 0.28 | 15835 (91.9) | 3743 (83.5) | 13528 (79.7) | 3927 (68.1) | 25 (89.3) | 6 (54.5) |
 Mild/moderate/severe/total | 6102 (13.7) | 3839 (11.2) | 2263 (22.1) | 0.29 | 1223 (7.1) | 688 (15.3) | 2609 (15.4) | 1570 (27.2) | 0-5 | 0-5 |
Self-rated mental health | ||||||||||
 Poor | 389 (0.9) | 118 (0.3) | 271 (2.6) | 0.19 | 57 (0.3) | 129 (2.9) | 61 (0.4) | 142 (2.5) | 0-5 | 0-5 |
 Fair/Good/Very Good/Excellent | 44066 (99) | 34101 (99.6) | 9965 (97.1) | 0.19 | 17166 (99.6) | 4344 (96.9) | 16895 (99.5) | 5608 (97.3) | 28 (100) | 9 (81.8) |
Number of depressive symptoms | ||||||||||
 Median (Q1-Q3) | 19 (17-21) | 19 (17-21) | 17 (15-20) | 0.03 | 19 (17-21) | 19 (17-21) | 18 (16-20) | 18 (16-20) | 19 (16-21) | 19 (16-20) |
 <10 | 789 (1.8) | 329 (1) | 460 (4.5) | -0.22 | 112 (0.6) | 156 (3.5) | 217 (1.3) | 303 (5.3) | 0-5 | 0-5 |
 10+ | 42658 (95.8) | 33132 (96.7) | 9526 (92.8) | 0.18 | 16726 (97) | 4203 (93.8) | 16367 (96.4) | 5309 (92.1) | 27 (96.4) | 10 (90.9) |
Number of social contacts | ||||||||||
 Median (Q1-Q3) | 3 (3-4) | 4 (3-4) | 3 (2-4) |  | 3 (2-4) | 3 (2-4) | 4(3-4) | 4 (3-4) | 3 (2-3) | 3 (2-3) |
 High contact (4-5) | 22124 (49.7) | 17899 (52.3) | 4225 (41.2) | 0.22 | 8530 (49.5) | 1674 (37.3) | 9358 (55.1) | 2547 (44.2) | 7 (25) | 0-5 |
 Moderate contact (2-3) | 18793 (42.2) | 13977 (40.8) | 4816 (46.9) | 0.12 | 7331 (42.5) | 2180 (48.6) | 6620 (39) | 2630 (45.6) | 20 (71.4) | 0-5 |
 Low contact (0-1) | 3600 (8.1) | 2378 (6.9) | 1222 (11.9) | 0.17 | 1378 (8) | 629 (14) | 996 (5.9) | 588 (10.2) | 0-5 | 0-5 |
Number of social activities | ||||||||||
 Median (Q1-Q3) | 3 (2-3) | 3 (2-3) | 2 (1-3) |  | 3 (2-3) | 3 (2-3) | 3 (2-3) | 3 (2-3) | 2 (1-3) | 2 (1-3) |
 High participation (4-5) | 9223 (20.7) | 7567 (22.1) | 1656 (16.1) | 0.15 | 3495 (20.3) | 647 (14.4) | 4063 (23.9) | 1009 (17.5) | 7 (25) | 0-5 |
 Moderate participation (2-3) | 26852 (60.3) | 21084 (61.6) | 5768 (56.2) | 0.11 | 10617 (61.6) | 2512 (56) | 10446 (61.5) | 3251 (56.4) | 15 (53.6) | 0-5 |
 Low participation (0-1) | 7814 (17.6) | 5158 (15.1) | 2656 (25.9) | 0.27 | 2935 (17) | 1234 (27.5) | 2213 (13) | 1412 (24.5) | 6 (21.4) | 9 (81.8) |
Anxiety | ||||||||||
 No | 39462 (88.6) | 31060 (90.7) | 8402 (81.9) | 0.26 | 15939 (92.5) | 3780 (84.3) | 15082 (88.8) | 4610 (80) | 27 (96.4) | 9 (81.8) |
 Yes | 3980 (8.9) | 2401 (7) | 1579 (15.4) | 0.27 | 893 (5.2) | 578 (12.9) | 1508 (8.9) | 998 (17.3) | 0-5 | 0-5 |
Family doctor in last 12 months | ||||||||||
 No | 3939 (8.8) | 3086 (9) | 853 (8.3) | 0.02 | 1694 (9.8) | 440 (9.8) | 1389 (8.2) | 413 (7.2) | 0-5 | 0-5 |
 Yes | 40471 (90.9) | 31093 (90.8) | 9378 (91.4) | 0.02 | 15515 (90) | 4022 (89.7) | 15541 (91.6) | 5341 (92.6) | 26 (92.9) | 11 (100) |