MINNEAPOLIS – Social isolation is linked to lower brain volume in areas related to cognition and a higher risk of dementia, according to research published in the June 8, 2022, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study found that social isolation was linked to a 26% increased risk of dementia, separately from risk factors like depression and loneliness.
"Social isolation is a serious yet underrecognized public health problem that is often associated with old age," said study author Jianfeng Feng, PhD, of Fudan University in Shanghai, China. "In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, social isolation, or the state of being cut off from social networks, has intensified. It's more important than ever to identify people who are socially isolated and provide resources to help them make connections in their community."
The study looked at 462,619 people across the United Kingdom with an average age of 57 at the beginning of the study who were followed for nearly 12 years before the pandemic. Of those, 41,886, or 9% of people reported being socially isolated, and 29,036, or 6% of people felt lonely. During the study, 4,998 developed dementia.
