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Browsing by Author "Williams-Farrelly, Monica"
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Item Loneliness and Quality of Life in Older Adult Primary Care Patients(Oxford University Press, 2023-12-21) Williams-Farrelly, Monica; Schroeder, Matthew; Li, Claudia; Fowler, Nicole; Medicine, School of MedicineLoneliness, defined as the perceived discrepancy in an individual’s desired and actual social relationships, is common among older adults. Loneliness among older adult primary care patients is lacking, considering the implications it has on physical and mental health. Our objective was to determine the relationship between loneliness and quality of life (QOL) in older adult primary care patients. Data come from the Caregiver Outcomes of Alzheimer’s Disease Screening (COADS) study, an ongoing randomized controlled trial evaluating benefits and risks of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias screening among older primary care patients and their family members. Loneliness (5-item NIH Toolbox), quality of life (QOL)—as measured by physical and mental health component scores— and depression (PHQ-9) and anxiety symptomatology (GAD-7) were measured among primary care patients aged 65 and older from April 2020 to September 2021. Spearman correlation analyses reveal that loneliness was moderately correlated with mental health (r(601) = -.43, p< 0.001), anxiety (r(601) =.44, p< 0.001), and depression (r(601) = .42, p< 0.001), while weakly correlated with physical health (r(601) = -.15, p< 0.001). After conducting unadjusted and adjusted linear regression models, we found that loneliness was associated with both lower mental (p< 0.001) and physical health component scores (p< 0.001). Furthermore, loneliness remained significantly associated with worse mental health when adjusting for depression, anxiety, sociodemographic characteristics, and comorbidity. Primary care providers should discuss loneliness with their older adult patients and provide resources to help patients develop and maintain meaningful social relationships.Item Racial Differences in the Relationship Between Loneliness and Cognition Among Older Adults in the Midwest(Oxford University Press, 2023-12-21) Catt, Wade; Fowler, Nicole; Perry, Brea; Peng, Siyun; Williams-Farrelly, Monica; Medicine, School of MedicineFindings from various studies have revealed a relationship between loneliness and negative health outcomes, including cognitive decline and dementia. The strength and direction of this relationship has been contested as there is wide variability in definitions and testing criteria for loneliness. If loneliness is risk factor for cognitive decline, it may represent a cost-effective site for interventional design. We used data from the Precision Health Initiative’s Person to Person Health Interview Study (P2P), a cross-sectional survey conducted in Indiana from 2020-2021, to investigate the relationship between loneliness (UCLA 3-item loneliness scale) and cognition (The Montreal Cognitive Assessment; MoCA) among older adults and to determine if the strength of the relationship varies for black and white adults. Among our subsample of adults 55 and older, over one quarter (26.7%) reported loneliness, with white respondents reporting more loneliness than black respondents (26.8 and 22.0%, respectively). Being lonely was associated with lower cognition, as was being older, male, black, and having no college education. However, we found that loneliness was associated with worse cognition, for white adults only. Although black respondents in our sample reported more loneliness than older white adults after age 70, we did not have adequate power to determine if advanced age moderated the relationship. Our findings highlight the role of loneliness in cognition for older, white adults and the need for more research to assess this relationship for the “mid-“ and “oldest-old” black adults who may be more susceptible to loneliness due, in part, to racial disparities in mortality.