Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2024 Jun 4;14(1):12871.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-63528-4.

The impact of social isolation and loneliness on cardiovascular disease risk factors: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and bibliometric investigation

Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

The impact of social isolation and loneliness on cardiovascular disease risk factors: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and bibliometric investigation

Osama Albasheer et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Data on the association between social isolation, loneliness, and risk of incident coronary heart disease (CVD) are conflicting. The objective of this study is to determine the relationship between social isolation and loneliness, and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) in middle age and elderly using meta-analysis. The purpose of the bibliometric analysis is to systematically evaluate the existing literature on the relationship between social isolation, loneliness, and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) in middle-aged and elderly individuals. A comprehensive search through four electronic databases (MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science) was conducted for published articles that determined the association between social isolation and/or loneliness and the risk of developing coronary heart disease from June 2015 to May 2023. Two independent reviewers reviewed the titles and abstracts of the records. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guideline to conduct the systematic review and meta-analysis. Data for the bibliometric analysis was obtained from the Scopus database and analyzed using VOSviewer and Bibliometrix applications. Six studies involving 104,511 patients were included in the final qualitative review and meta-analysis after screening the records. The prevalence of loneliness ranged from 5 to 65.3%, and social isolation ranged from 2 to 56.5%. A total of 5073 cardiovascular events were recorded after follow-up, ranging between 4 and 13 years. Poor social relationships were associated with a 16% increase in the risk of incident CVD (Hazard Ratio of new CVD when comparing high versus low loneliness or social isolation was 1.16 (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.10-1.22). The bibliometric analysis shows a rapidly growing field (9.77% annual growth) with common collaboration (6.37 co-authors/document, 26.53% international). The US leads research output, followed by the UK and Australia. Top institutions include University College London, Inserm, and the University of Glasgow. Research focuses on "elderly," "cardiovascular disease," and "psychosocial stress," with recent trends in "mental health," "social determinants," and "COVID-19". Social isolation and loneliness increase the risk of and worsen outcomes in incident cardiovascular diseases. However, the observed effect estimate is small, and this may be attributable to residual confounding from incomplete measurement of potentially confounding or mediating factors. The results of the bibliometric analysis highlight the multidimensional nature of CVD research, covering factors such as social, psychological, and environmental determinants, as well as their interplay with various demographic and health-related variables.

Keywords: Bibliometrics; Cardiovascular disease; Loneliness; Meta-analysis; Social health; Social isolation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The flowchart of the process of meta-analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Risk of bias across the studies involved in this meta- analysis.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Contour-enhanced funnel plots.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Predictors of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in older men and women. Novak_ M = Novak_ Male, Novak_ F = Novak_ Female.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Annual production of scholarly work related to social isolation, loneliness, and cardiovascular disease risk. Y-axis: the number articles published. X-axis: the years since the first article published in the topic of this paper. This figure was generated using the Bibliometrix (version 4.2.2) application and the BibTex data file.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Global production of scholarly work related to social isolation, loneliness, and cardiovascular disease risk. Countries with a dark blue color are the most productive. Countries outside the blue category have not made any contributions to research in this particular area. This figure was generated using the Bibliometrix (version 4.2.2) application and the BibTex data file.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Most Frequent Keywords. This figure was generated using the VOSviewer (version 1.6.20) application and the BibTex data file.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Thematic map. Thematic maps are divided into four quadrants based on centrality and density, which represent the importance and development of research topics. This figure was generated using the Bibliometrix (Version 4.2.2) application and the BibTex data file.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Thematic evolution. 2014 and 2020 were crucial points for the transformation of the main topics. This figure was generated using the Bibliometrix (Version 4.2.2) application and the BibTex data file.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Trending topics. The graph depicts the research topic's time span, with horizontal lines indicating the duration and blue circles representing the frequency of the term. This figure was generated using Bibliometrix (Version 4.2.2) and BibTex data files.

Similar articles

References

    1. National Academies of Sciences, E. and Medicine, Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: Opportunities for the Health Care System. 2020, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. 316. - PubMed
    1. Organization, W.H., Social isolation and loneliness among older people: advocacy brief. 2021.
    1. Petersen J, et al. Longitudinal relationship between loneliness and social isolation in older adults: results from the cardiovascular health study. J. Aging Health. 2016;28(5):775–795. doi: 10.1177/0898264315611664. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Perissinotto CM, Cenzer IS, Covinsky KE. Loneliness in older persons: a predictor of functional decline and death. Arch. Intern. Med. 2012;172(14):1078–1084. doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2012.1993. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hodgson S, et al. Loneliness, social isolation, cardiovascular disease and mortality: a synthesis of the literature and conceptual framework. J. R. Soc. Med. 2020;113(5):185–192. doi: 10.1177/0141076820918236. - DOI - PMC - PubMed