A study has attempted to quantify the prevalence of loneliness in our contemporary society, in order to begin to arm public health tools against this phenomenon, which can have serious consequences.
We didn’t wait for the pandemic to feel alone. It is an evil which increases in our time. In 2018, a large study published in The Lancet was already called The growing problem of loneliness”. Authors behind new work, published in The BMJ on February 9, 2022, examine our relationship to loneliness in no less than 113 countries.
By bringing together data obtained in dozens of studies and national assessments, located between 2000 and 2019 in a total of 113 countries, this meta-analysis quantifies the prevalence of loneliness in our contemporary society. Prevalence is the level of presence of a disease or other in a population at a given time. This therefore makes it possible to better understand the extent of the phenomenon of ” problematic loneliness », and its nuances. Which is an important issue.
On the Syndey University website, Melody Ding, a researcher who participated in this study, recalls that loneliness affects mental and psychological health, but also physical health, which makes it a major public health problem that it it’s about getting a better understanding of the facts. ” It is commonly believed that approximately one in 12 people experience loneliness at a level that can lead to serious health problems, but the source of this data is unclear and researchers have never established the extent of loneliness. worldwide. This is why we were interested in carrying out this study. »
Loneliness is ‘a common experience globally’
The study highlights significant disparities, both from one country to another, from one region to another and from one age group to another. For adolescents, the margin is very wide, ranging from 9% on average in Southeast Asia to 14.4% in the Near and Middle East. But it is among adults over 60 that the prevalence of loneliness is highest on average, with an overall figure of 11.6% of this population. The highest prevalence in Europe for this group is Italy (18%).
Likewise, Eastern European countries generally face the highest figures for loneliness – easily exceeding 20% prevalence among those over 60 and peaking at 30% of the population. Conversely, it is the countries of northern Europe (“Scandinavia”) that are doing the best – in most age groups, the figures remain at the lowest levels in this region of the world.
France, on the other hand, does not really come out the winner of this meta-analysis. The prevalence of loneliness in France is one of the highest in Europe:
| Young adults | Adults | + 60 years | |
| France | 8.2% | 8.8% | 11-15% |
| Germany | 5% | 4.4% | 8-13% |
| UK | 6.2% | 5.1% | 6-9% |
| Ireland | 4% | 5% | 5.3% |
| Belgium | 6.2% | 6.5% | 8-13% |
| Swiss | 1.3% | 2.6% | 3-4% |
| Spain | 4.4% | 6.5% | 11-14% |
| Netherlands | 3.4% | 3.3% | 6-9% |
| Portugal | 6.4% | 9% | 14.9% |
| Austria | 9.5% | 6.4% | 10% |
Beyond these disparities, the figures remain, on the whole, quite high at the statistical level. This is what leads the study to conclude that ” we discovered that loneliness at a problematic level is a common experience globally “.
There is need for measures against loneliness
The researchers did not identify any notable change in loneliness in the period studied (2000-2019). But, with the pandemic, we must obviously expect a rebound. ” We anticipate that covid and the public health restrictions associated with it have increased the isolation of many people around the world. This study will therefore provide researchers with important baseline data to assess the impact of the pandemic on loneliness in the future. », comments Daniel Surkalim, one of the authors.
“Developing interventions to remedy it”
The figures presented, however, remind us that the problem largely predates the health crisis. ” We advocate with healthcare professionals, policy makers and the general public for greater awareness of widespread loneliness “, write the authors, in conclusion of their meta-analysis. They also recall that their study highlights a lack of equity in access to data on the subject, from one region to another. ” High-quality data based on validated and comparable instruments are urgently needed to tackle loneliness. »
Moreover, the great variability of the prevalence rate requires “ an in-depth study to identify drivers of loneliness at systemic levels and develop interventions to address them “, say the authors.