Table 1 Sociodemographic, clinical, psychological and lifestyle characteristics according to degrees of loneliness and social isolation

Age, years

66.6 (9.34)

65.85 (8.9)

67.17 (9.62)^a

68.44 (9.86)^a

< 0.0001

68.10 (9.82)

64.92 (8.44)

< 0.0001

 50–59

3113 (26.58)

1941 (28.6)

751 (25.3)

421 (21.5)

< 0.0001

1440 (23.1)

1673 (30.6)

< 0.0001

 60–69

4335 (37.01)

2601 (38.3)

1054 (35.6)

680 (34.7)

2117 (33.9)

2218 (40.6)

 70–79

3092 (26.40)

1694 (25.0)

831 (28.0)

567 (28.9)

1824 (29.2)

1268 (23.2)

  ≥ 80

1173 (10.01)

552 (8.1)

328 (11.1)

293 (14.9)

866 (13.9)

307 (5.6)

Height, m

1.59 (0.09)

1.60 (0.09)

1.58 (0.10)^a

1.57 (0.09)^a

< 0.0001

1.58 (0.10)

1.60 (0.09)

< 0.0001

Weight, Kg

69.84 (14.08)

70.7 (14.0)

69.1 (13.8)^a

67.8 (14.5)^a

< 0.0001

68.37 (14.37)

71.5 (13.6)

< 0.0001

Body mass index

27.5 (4.87)

27.5 (4.68)

27.5 (5.06)

27.5 (5.3)

0.95

27.28 (5.00)

27.8 (4.72)

< 0.0001

 Men

4896 (41.80)

3134 (46.2)

1131 (38.2)

631 (32.2)

< 0.0001

2319 (37.1)

2577 (47.1)

< 0.0001

 Women

6817 (58.20)

3654 (53.8)

1833 (61.8)

1330 (67.8)

3928 (62.9)

2889 (52.9)

Schooling, years

5.76 (4.68)

6.42 (4.89)

5.34 (4.38)^a

4.13 (3.82)^a

< 0.0001

5.40 (4.55)

6.18 (4.78)

< 0.0001

 No schooling

3681 (31.43)

2503 (36.9)

834 (28.1)

344 (17.5)

< 0.0001

1822 (29.2)

1859 (34.0)

< 0.0001

 1–6 years

6149 (52.50)

3382 (49.8)

1635 (55.2)

1132 (57.7)

3285 (52.6)

2864 (52.4)

  ≥ 7 years

1883 (16.08)

903 (13.3)

495(16.7)

485 (24.7)

1140 (18.2)

743 (13.6)

 Excellent

110 (0.94)

76 (1.1)

20 (0.7)

14 (0.7)

< 0.0001

53 (0.8)

57 (1.0)

< 0.0001

 Very Good

155 (1.32)

116 (1.7)

31 (1.0)

8 (0.4)

73 (1.2)

82 (1.5)

 Good

2528 (21.58)

1733 (25.5)

561 (18.9)

234 (11.9)

1287 (20.6)

1241 (22.7)

 Fair

7627 (65.12)

4359 (64.2)

1999 (67.4)

1269 (64.7)

4024 (64.4)

3603 (65.9)

 Poor

1293 (11.04)

504 (7.4)

353 (11.9)

436 (22.2)

810 (13.0)

483 (8.8)

 None activity affected

11,191 (95.5)

6603 (97.3)

2809 (94.8)

1779 (90.7)

< 0.0001

5275 (96.5)

5916 (94.7)

< 0.0001

 More than 1 activity affected

522 (4.5)

185 (2.7)

155 (5.2)

182 (9.3)

191 (3.5)

331 (5.3)

 Walking

197 (1.68)

70 (1.0)

57 (1.9)

70 (3.6)

< 0.0001

134 (2.1)

63 (1.2)

< 0.0001

 Bathing

291 (2.48)

101 (1.5)

94 (3.2)

96 (4.9)

< 0.0001

196 (3.1)

95 (1.7)

< 0.0001

 Eating

173 (1.5)

53 (0.8)

57 (1.9)

63 (3.2)

< 0.0001

113 (1.8)

60 (1.1)

0.001

 Using the toilet

174 (1.5)

60 (0.9)

60 (2.0)

54 (2.8)

< 0.0001

116 (1.9)

58 (1.1)

< 0.0001

 Getting into or out of bed

247 (2.1)

80 (1.2)

83 (2.8)

84 (4.3)

< 0.0001

151 (2.4)

96 (1.8)

0.01

Cognition, score

0.004 (0.99)

0.13 (0.97)

−0.10 (0.96)^a

− 0.31 (0.96)^a

< 0.0001

− 0.10 (1.00)

0.12 (0.94)

< 0.0001

Depressive symptoms, n (%)

3615 (30.86)

1012 (14.9)

1200 (40.5)

1403 (71.5)

< 0.0001

2157 (34.5)

1458 (26.7)

< 0.0001

 Agrees

10,057 (85.86)

6206 (91.4)

2479 (83.6)

1372 (70.0)

< 0.0001

5224 (83.6)

4833 (88.4)

< 0.0001

 Remains neutral

978 (8.35)

385 (5.7)

307 (10.4)

286 (14.6)

588 (9.4)

390 (7.1)

 Disagrees

678 (5.79)

197 (2.9)

178 (6.0)

303 (15.5)

435 (7.0)

243 (4.4)

Internal locus of control, score

5.34 (1.78)

5.25 (1.86)

5.38 (1.78)^a

5.58 (2.04)^a

< 0.0001

5.42 (1.84)

5.25 (1.69)

< 0.0001

 Hypertension

5735 (48.96)

3107 (45.8)

1527 (51.5)

1101 (56.1)

< 0.0001

3124 (50.0)

2611 (47.8)

0.02

 Diabetes

3003 (25.64)

1598 (23.5)

799 (27.0)

606 (30.9)

< 0.0001

1608 (25.7)

1395 (25.5)

0.79

 Cancer

284 (2.42)

158 (2.3)

63 (2.1)

63 (3.2)

0.08

129 (2.1)

155 (2.8)

0.007

 Respiratory disease

730 (6.23)

341 (5.0)

219 (7.4)

170 (8.7)

< 0.0001

402 (6.4)

328 (6.0)

0.33

 Heart attack

445 (3.80)

225 (3.3)

125 (4.2)

95 (4.8)

0.001

226 (3.6)

219 (4.0)

0.27

 Stroke

228 (1.95)

113 (1.7)

64 (2.2)

51 (2.6)

0.05

132 (2.1)

96 (1.8)

0.16

 Arthritis

1813 (15.48)

856 (12.6)

527 (17.8)

430 (21.9)

< 0.0001

1058 (16.9)

755 (13.8)

< 0.0001

 Infectious disease

1714 (14.63)

854 (12.6)

465 (15.7)

395 (20.1)

< 0.0001

932 (14.9)

782 (14.3)

0.35

Multimorbidity, n (%)

3496 (29.85)

1752 (25.8)

960 (32.4)

784 (40.0)

< 0.0001

1911 (30.6)

1585 (29.0)

0.06

Falls, n (%)

5291 (45.17)

2749 (40.5)

1428 (48.2)

1114 (56.8)

< 0.0001

2928 (46.9)

2363 (43.2)

< 0.0001

Hearing problems, n (%)

483 (4.12)

207 (3.0)

255 (8.6)

149 (7.6)

< 0.0001

308 (4.9)

175 (3.2)

< 0.0001

Sight problems, n (%)

875 (7.47)

327 (4.8)

127 (4.3)

293 (14.9)

< 0.0001

532 (8.5)

343 (6.3)

< 0.0001

Limiting Pain, n (%)

2172 (18.54)

886 (13.1)

660 (22.3)

626 (31.9)

< 0.0001

1242 (19.9)

930 (17.0)

< 0.0001

 Never

7095 (60.57)

4055 (59.7)

1822 (61.5)

1218 (62.1)

0.06

3827 (61.3)

3268 (59.8)

0.72

 Former smoker

3231 (27.58)

1914 (28.2)

801 (27.0)

516 (26.3)

1651 (26.4)

1580 (28.9)

 Current smoker

1387 (11.84)

819 (12.1)

341 (11.5)

227 (11.6)

789 (12.3)

618 (11.3)

 Has never used

1118 (9.54)

589 (8.6)

315 (10.6)

220 (11.2)

< 0.0001

612 (9.8)

506 (9.3)

< 0.0001

 Currently doesn’t use or mild user

8758 (74.77)

5024 (74.0)

2211 (74.6)

1523 (77.7)

4774 (76.4)

3984 (72.9)

 Moderate user

762 (6.51)

493 (7.3)

174 (5.9)

95 (4.8)

353 (5.7)

409 (72.9)

 Heavy user

1075 (9.18)

688 (10.1)

264 (8.9)

123 (6.3)

508 (8.1)

567 (10.4)

Unintentional weight loss, n (%)

2339 (19.97)

1211 (17.8)

582 (19.6)

546 (27.8)

< 0.0001

1348 (21.6)

991 (18.1)

< 0.0001

Hospitalization, n (%)

1559 (13.31)

769 (11.3)

436 (14.7)

354 (18.1)

< 0.0001

867 (13.9)

692 (12.7)

0.05

 No hospitalization

10,154 (86.7)

6019 (88.7)

2528 (85.3)

1607 (81.9)

< 0.0001

4774 (87.3)

5380 (86.1)

0.04

 1 to 5 hospitalizations

1106 (9.4)

537 (7.9)

324 (10.9)

245 (12.5)

496 (9.1)

610 (9.8)

 More than 5 hospitalizations

453 (3.9)

232 (3.4)

112 (3.8)

109 (5.6)

196 (3.6)

257 (4.1)

Living alone, n (%)

1154 (9.9)

422 (6.2)

414 (14.0)

318 (16.2)

< 0.0001

1067 (17.1)

87 (1.6)

< 0.0001