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The economic costs of loneliness: a review of cost-of-illness and economic evaluation studies

journal contribution
posted on 2020-07-01, 00:00 authored by Cathy MihalopoulosCathy Mihalopoulos, Long Le, Mary Lou Chatterton, Jessica BucholcJessica Bucholc, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Michelle H Lim, Lidia Engel
PURPOSE: Loneliness and social isolation can occur at all stages of the life course and are recognized as a global health priority. The aim of this study was to review existing literature on the economic costs associated with loneliness and social isolation as well as evidence on the cost-effectiveness of interventions to prevent or address loneliness and social isolation. METHODS: A bibliographic database search was undertaken in Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Embase, supplemented by a grey literature search and a reference list search. Papers were included that were published in English language in peer-reviewed literature in the past 10 years, reporting costs of loneliness and/or social isolation or economic evaluations of interventions whose primary purpose is to reduce loneliness and/or social isolation, including return on investment (ROI) or social return on investment (SROI) studies. RESULTS: In total, 12 papers were included in this review, consisting of four cost-of-illness studies, seven economic evaluations and five ROI or SROI studies. Most studies were conducted in the UK and focused on older adults. Due to the inconsistent use of the terms loneliness and social isolation, as well as their measurement, the true economic burden can only be estimated to a certain extent and the comparability across economic evaluations and ROI studies is limited. CONCLUSIONS: The paucity of evidence that is available primarily evaluating the economic costs of loneliness indicates that more research is needed to assess the economic burden and identify cost-effective interventions to prevent or address loneliness and social isolation.

History

Journal

Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology

Volume

55

Issue

7

Pagination

823 - 836

Publisher

Springer

Location

Berlin, Germany

eISSN

1433-9285

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2019, The Author(s)