ISSN 2348-3156 (Print) International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research ISSN 2348-3164 (online) Vol. 10, Issue 4, pp: (405-415), Month: October - December 2022, Available at: www.researchpublish.com
Prevalence and associated risk factors of Loneliness among older adults at Mathira West Sub-County, Kenya 1
Agnes Nyamu, 2Lucy Njiru, 3Samuel Ojuade DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7296374
Published Date: 06-November-2022
Abstract: Loneliness is a phenomenon commonly associated with old age because of the changes that occur with this population in their social relationships both qualitatively and quantitatively. This phenomenon is widely perceived as one of the major problems of later life. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence and associated risk factors of loneliness among older adults at Mathira West, Sub-County, Kenya. The sample size of 299 older adults in this study was calculated using Yamane’s formula, the confidence level of 95%, the margin error of 5%, and the 1169 population. Quantitative data was collected from old adults aged 55-60 years, in which frequency of male respondents was higher (174, 58.2%) as opposed to female older adults (125, 41.8%). Results from this study showed the prevalence of moderate loneliness at 27.4% and severe or clinical loneliness at 14.4%. Similarly, findings from PLUM ordinal regression indicated that older adults aged 66-70 years (p=0.000), and aged 71-75 years (p=0.000), were at risk of clinical loneliness. Further, male respondents (p=0.000), single parents (p=0.000), separated or divorced (p=0.000), perceived financially poor (p=0.041), were found to be significantly at risk of clinical loneliness. Moreover, findings from the ordinal regression revealed that respondents who live alone (p=0.000), respondents who use mobile phone frequently (p=0.000), were found to be at risk of clinical loneliness. Conclusively, the results from this study were stimulating, and it has raised several topics for further research that will require intervention research because the 27.4% prevalence of loneliness among the older adults cannot be ignored. Keywords: Prevalence, Risk factors, loneliness, older adults, Kenya.
1. INTRODUCTION loneliness and social isolation are major problems for older adults and are associated with adverse mental and physical health consequences. A wide range of health consequences associated with loneliness such as depression, cardiovascular disease, quality of life, cognitive function and mortality have been identified (Ernst & Cacioppo, 2019). Also, according to Granic et al, (2018), the proportion of old adults in developing and developed countries will reach to 80% and 40%, respectively. This rising among this population has become a major economic, social and heath concerns for health care providers, family members and societies in the world today (Bandari et al, 2019). Sequel to changes in phase of life cycle among older adults such as retirement or age-related losses such as death of a partner or friends, as well as deteriorating health and limited mobility (Kemperman et al, 2019). At the old age, most older adults mainly prefer to remain in their own house and live independently, hence; majority of them usually experience feelings of loneliness and social isolation. A meta-analysis of 70 studies involving 3.5 million individuals found that loneliness increased mortality by 26% in older adults. Loneliness is found to be associated with a 45% increased risk of death (Hott-Lunstad et al., 2015). Social isolation and loneliness are serious and affect a significant proportion of the older adult population. For instance, in the United States of America, 26% of community-dwelling older adults are considered to be socially isolated and 43% of older adults report feeling lonely (NASEM, 2020). A similar study in US indicated the prevalence of loneliness among older adults in primary care at 20% (Mullen, et al., 2019). Additional review of prevalence rates of loneliness, anxiety, and depression among older
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