Key points from article :
"Lonely older adults can expect to live a shorter life than their peers," - Rahul Malhotra, lead study author.
People aged 60, who perceive themselves to be sometimes lonely or mostly lonely, can expect to live 3-5 years less.
At ages 70 and 80, lonely older persons can expect to live 3-4 years and 2-3 years less, respectively.
Researchers conducted a study on more than 2,000 older people in Singapore.
34% of them were lonely (male, 37%; female, 31%).
Loneliness increased with age, from 32% among those aged 60-69 years to 40% among those aged 80 and above.
Lowest (33%) among those with no formal education, and highest (38%) among those with higher-than-tertiary education.
Nearly 10% higher among seniors who lived alone (43%) compared to those who did not live alone (33%).
"..increasing policy interest in loneliness around the world," - Angelique Chan, senior study author.
Study by Duke-NUS Medical School and Nihon University published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society.
