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Interventions for reducing loneliness: An umbrella review of intervention studies |
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| Authors: | Nicola Veronese Daiana Galvano Francesca D’Antiga Chiara Vecchiato Eva Furegon Raffaella Allocco Lee Smith Giovanni Gelmini Pietro Gareri Marco Solmi Lin Yang Marco Trabucchi Diego De Leo Jacopo Demurtas |
| Institution: | 1. Geriatric Unit, Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy;2. XIV Corso di Formazione Specifica in Medicina Generale, Scuola di Sanità Pubblica (SSP), Veneto Region, Venice, Italy;3. Relaxxi SRL, Noale, Venice, Italy;4. Codess Sociale SRL, Spinea, Venice, Italy;5. Social Service, Noale City, Noale, Venice, Italy;6. The Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK;7. Azienda USL, Parma, Italy;8. Center for Cognitive Disorders and Dementia - Catanzaro Lido, ASP Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy;9. Neurosciences Department, University of Padua, Italy;10. Department of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Research, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, AB, Canada
Departments of Oncology and Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada;11. University Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy;12. Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt Campus, Australia;13. Clinical and Experimental Medicine PhD Program, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy Primary Care Department, Azienda USL Sud Est Toscana – Grosseto, Grosseto, Italy |
| Abstract: | Loneliness is a common phenomenon associated with several negative health outcomes. Current knowledge regarding interventions for reducing loneliness in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is conflicting. The aim of the present work is to provide an overview of interventions to reduce loneliness, using an umbrella review of previously published systematic reviews and meta-analyses. We searched major databases from database inception to 31 March 2020 for RCTs comparing active versus non-active interventions for reducing loneliness. For each intervention, random-effects summary effect size and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. For significant outcomes (p-value < 0.05), the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) tool was used, grading the evidence from very low to high. From 211 studies initially evaluated, seven meta-analyses for seven different types of interventions were included (median number of RCTs: 8; median number of participants: 600). Three interventions were statistically significant for reducing loneliness, that is, meditation/mindfulness, social cognitive training and social support. When applying GRADE criteria, meditation/mindfulness (mean difference, MD = −6.03; 95% CI: −9.33 to −2.73; very low strength of the evidence), social cognitive training (8 RCTs; SMD = −0.49; 95% CI: −0.84 to −0.13; very low strength of the evidence) and social support (9 RCTs; SMD = −0.13; 95% CI: −0.25 to −0.01; low strength of the evidence) significantly decreased the perception of loneliness. In conclusion, three intervention types may be utilised for reducing loneliness, but they are supported by a low/very low certainty of evidence indicating the need for future large-scale RCTs to further investigate the efficacy of interventions for reducing loneliness. |
| Keywords: | loneliness meta-analysis randomised controlled trial social umbrella review |