Centre for Policy on Ageing



Changes in and factors related to loneliness in older men — the Zutphen Elderly Study
Author(s)	Marja A R Tijhuis, Jenny De Jong Gierveld, Edith J M Feskens
Journal title	Age and Ageing, vol 28, no 5, September 1999
Pages	pp 491-496
Keywords	Loneliness ; Older men ; Social characteristics [elderly] ; Marital status ; Longitudinal surveys ; Netherlands.
Annotation	939 men born between 1900 and 1920 and participating in the Zutphen Elderly Study in the Netherlands completed the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, and answered questions about their partner status, health and institutionalisation in 1985, 1990 and 1995. For the older group (born between 1900 and 1910), loneliness scores increased, but not for the younger groups. The increase in loneliness was attributable to ageing. No birth cohort or time effects were found. Loneliness was related to changes in institutionalisation, partner status and subjective health, but not to limitations in activities of daily living or cognitive function. Men were more lonely if they: had lost a partner; were not feeling healthy; or had moved into a care home. Loneliness increased over time in very old men, but not in the younger old. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-991021214
Classmark	DV: BC: F: SLM: 3J: 76H
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.