Abstract
Background: Social health reflects one’s ability to form interpersonal relationships. Poor social health is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), however an in-depth exploration of the link through CVD risk factors is lacking. Aim: To examine the relationship between social health (social isolation, social support, loneliness) and CVD risk factors among healthy older women and men. Methods: Data were from 11,498 healthy community-dwelling Australians aged ≥70 years from the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) trial and the ASPREE Longitudinal Study of Older Persons sub-study. Ten-year CVD risk was estimated using the Atherosclerotic CVD Risk Scale (ASCVDRS) and the Framingham Risk Score (FRS). Results: Physical inactivity and experiencing depressive symptoms were the only CVD risk factors that consistently differed by all three social health constructs. Loneliness was associated with greater ASCVDRS (women: β = 0.01, p < 0.05; men: β = 0.03, p < 0.001), social isolation with greater FRS (women: β = 0.02, p < 0.01; men: β = 0.03, p < 0.01) and the social health composite of being lonely (regardless of social isolation and/or social support status) with greater ASCVDRS (women: β = 0.01, p = 0.02; men: β = 0.03, p < 0.001). Among men, loneliness was also associated with greater FRS (β = 0.03, p < 0.001) and social support with greater ASCVDRS (β = 0.02, p = 0.01). Men were more socially isolated, less socially supported and less lonely than women. Conclusion: Social isolation, social support and loneliness displayed diverse relationships with CVD risk factors and risk scores, emphasising the importance of distinguishing between these constructs. These findings inform on potential avenues to manage poor social health and CVD risk among older adults.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1795-1809 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| Early online date | 7 Jul 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2021 |
Bibliographical note
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:We would like to thank all study participants for their avid engagement,
and all ASPREE research, administrative and data teams for
their outstanding contributions. We express gratitude to all funding
bodies for their support. The ASPREE clinical trial was funded by the
US National Institute on Aging and the National Cancer Institute at
the National Institutes of Health (grant number U01AG029824); the
National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (grant
numbers 334047, 1127060); Monash University (Australia); and the
Victorian Cancer Agency (Australia). The ALSOP sub‐study was
supported by funding from Monash University, ANZ Trustees, the
Wicking Trust and the Mason Foundation. Rosanne Freak‐Poli is
supported by an Australian Heart Foundation post‐doctoral fellowship
(101927). Joanne Ryan is supported by a NHMRC Dementia
Research Leader Fellowship (APP1135727). Christopher M. Reid is
supported by a NHMRC Principal Research Fellowship
(APP1136372).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
