Loneliness as a Public Health Issue: The Impact of Loneliness on Health Care Utilization Among Older Adults

We aimed to determine whether loneliness is associated with higher health care utilization among older adults in the United States.

We used panel data from the Health and Retirement Study (2008 and 2012) to examine the long-term impact of loneliness on health care use. The sample was limited to community-dwelling persons in the United States aged 60 years and older. We used negative binomial regression models to determine the impact of loneliness on physician visits and hospitalizations.