Loneliness and ED Visits in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the association of loneliness and the incidence of ED visits in a large and well-characterized cohort of patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); the association of loneliness with performance measures and health perception was the secondary objective. Baseline data were used from the National Emphysema Treatment Trial (NETT), which investigated the effectiveness of lung volume reduction surgery in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD. Patients received Quality of Wellbeing questionnaires, which asked about loneliness and social isolation. For comparing baseline variables between lonely and non-lonely subjects, we used χ² tests for categorical variables and Wilcoxon tests for continuous variables. The association of loneliness with ED visits and health perception was assessed with a logistic model that adjusted for multiple critical confounders. The study took place from December 2002, to December 2004, with a follow-up period of 5 years to assess loneliness and 24 months to assess use of the emergency department. There were 1218 patients analyzed, mean age 65 (standard deviation [SD] 12), 47% were women, FEV 1% 41 (SD 12); 7.9% of participants reported feeling lonely. These individuals had worse health ratings, 6-minute walk tests (6MWTs), and breathlessness. Loneliness was independently associated with ED visits after adjusting for age, lung function, dyspnea, 6MWT, treatment, and gender, odds ratio (OR) 1.57 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.005-2.466), P=.04. This study suggests that loneliness in patients with COPD is significantly and independently associated to ED visits and reduced health perception. Addressing loneliness of patients with COPD in the outpatient setting may contribute to improved health perception and less health care utilization.