People suffering from loneliness make more GP visits compared to those who are not, a new study has shown.
Research led by the University of Sheffield, UK, reviewed 25 global studies in which more than 100,000 participants self reported how lonely they felt.
Their visits to GPs were either self reported or tracked by medical records and a meta-analysis of the data enabled the researchers to calculate that people who are suffering from loneliness make more GP visits in comparison to people who are not.
Their findings, published in the latest edition of Health Psychology Review, also revealed that, regardless of whether a country’s healthcare system is public or private, people who are lonely are still more likely to make more GP visits. Lonely women are more likely to visit their GP than men.
Dr Fuschia Sirois, of the University of Sheffield’s Department of Psychology, said: “Public health policies aimed at improving health and reducing health-care utilisation tend to focus mainly on poor lifestyle and health behaviours, but social connection factors such as loneliness receive much less attention.
“Our findings put the spotlight on the impact that loneliness can have on health-care utilisation and suggest that addressing the issue of loneliness at both the societal and the community levels could improve health and reduce the use of health services.
“When we find ways to reduce loneliness, we improve the physical and mental health of people in society and reduce the costs to the NHS.”
Recent estimates have claimed that about 3.7 million adults in Great Britain “often” or “always” feel lonely, which means that of there were even small reductions in loneliness nationwide, it could reduce the demand for GP visits by tens of thousands every year.
In 2018, the UK government appointed its first Minister for Loneliness to help combat the condition, such as social prescribing. By 2023/24, the NHS hopes to refer 900,000 people a year to social prescribing schemes.
Dr Sirois and colleagues are investigating if people suffering from loneliness are making more GP visits because of the negative health effects that have been linked to loneliness, or whether it is because they simply want someone to talk to.
Sirois F, Owens J. A meta-analysis of loneliness and use of primary health care. Health Psychology Review 7 October 2021
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