society
Posted2024.04.26 05:00 Modified2024.04.26 05:00
US research group: “The greater the loneliness, the greater the risk of death… the need for counseling and support.”
One study found that among cancer treatment survivors, those who felt very lonely had a 60% greater risk of death than survivors who felt less or not at all lonely. The Jingxuan Zhao research team at the American Cancer Society (ACS) announced in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (JNCCN) that they confirmed this fact by conducting a follow-up survey of 3,400 cancer survivors on the relationship between the degree of living felt loneliness and the risk of death.
Researcher Zhao said: “Cancer diagnosis and treatment can have long-term negative effects on health, negatively impact cancer survivors’ social relationships, and cause loneliness,” and added: “Loneliness, the feeling being isolated is the most common concern among cancer patients.” survivors.” he emphasized.
“There are currently more than 18 million cancer survivors in the United States, and that number is expected to increase to 22 million by 2030,” he said, adding, “We must address this important issue now.” In this study, the research team measured the level of loneliness experienced using the UCLA Loneliness Scale among 3,447 cancer survivors aged 50 and older who participated in a nationally representative survey from the Health and Retirement Study from 2008 to 2018 and assessed their survival. state by 2020. A follow-up survey was conducted.
The UCLA Loneliness Scale Version 3 is scored from 1 to 3 in response to various questions about how lonely you feel.
The research team calculated the total score by adding the scores for each question and divided participants into four groups (low/no loneliness, mild loneliness, moderate loneliness, and severe loneliness) based on the total score. As a result, the low/no loneliness group was counted as 1,402 people (24.3%), mild loneliness was 1,445 people, moderate loneliness was 1,418 people, and severe loneliness was 1,543 people.
As a result of the analysis of the risk of death during the follow-up period of a total of 5,808 person-years (one person-year is the value of observing a person for one year), the risk of death was higher for survivors who reported a lot of loneliness compared to survivors who reported little or no loneliness. The more serious the condition, the greater the risk of death.
The group of survivors who felt most alone had a 67% greater risk of death than the group who felt least alone after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics. “It is necessary to select cancer survivors who feel lonely and provide social support to those who need it,” said researcher Zhao He saying that integrating survivor management could be one way to achieve this.
◆ 출처: Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, Jingxuan Zhao et al., https://jnccn.org/
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