Sex differences in the impact of social isolation and loneliness on mortality

Social isolation and loneliness are increasingly recognized as risk factors for mortality, but their sex-specific effects remain unclear.

This study examines the impact of social isolation and loneliness and their combined association with all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer mortality.

322,558 participants were analyzed from the UK Biobank cohort (51.3 % female, mean age: 55.66 ± 7.99 years; 48.7 % male, mean age: 56.53 ± 8.16 years). Social isolation and loneliness were assessed using validated measures. Mortality data were obtained from national death registries over a median follow-up of 11.83 years. Cox proportional hazards models estimated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 % confidence intervals for mortality, adjusting for socioeconomic, behavioral, and health-related confounders.

Social isolation was consistently associated with increased all-cause and CVD mortality in both sexes, with higher effect sizes in males (HR all-cause: 1.41 [95 % CI: 1.37-1.49]; CVD: 1.61 [1.45-1.80]) compared to females (HR all-cause: 1.25 [1.16-1.34]; CVD: 1.31 [1.08-1.58]). Loneliness was associated with increased all-cause mortality in females (HR: 1.12 [1.01-1.24]) but not in males (HR: 1.01 [0.94-1.10]). The combination of loneliness and social isolation yielded the highest mortality risks, particularly for CVD mortality. A significant interaction by sex was observed for all-cause mortality (p = 0.012), but not for CVD or cancer mortality.

Social isolation is a strong and independent predictor of mortality in both sexes, particularly for CVD-related deaths, while loneliness exerts a significant impact on overall mortality in females but not in males.