TY - JOUR
T1 - Loneliness, social isolation, and pain following the COVID-19 outbreak
T2 - data from a nationwide internet survey in Japan
AU - Yamada, Keiko
AU - Wakaizumi, Kenta
AU - Kubota, Yasuhiko
AU - Murayama, Hiroshi
AU - Tabuchi, Takahiro
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to all the respondents in this study. The authors also appreciate Dr. Masako Iseki, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine, Japan for her professional advises. This study was funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI Grants [Grant Numbers 17H03589; 19K10671; 19K10446; 18H03107; 18H03062], the JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists [Grant Number 19K19439], Research Support Program to Apply the Wisdom of the University to tackle COVID-19 Related Emergency Problems, University of Tsukuba, and a Health Labour Sciences Research Grant [Grant Number 19FA1005; 19FG2001]. This research was partially supported by the JSPS Overseas Research Fellowships (to K.Y.). The findings and conclusions of this article are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not represent the official views of the research funders. We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing. The authors report no conflicts of interest.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - The aim of cross-sectional study was to investigate the association between loneliness, increased social isolation, and pain following the COVID-19 outbreak. A total of 25,482 participants, aged 15–79 years, were assessed using an internet survey; the University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (Version 3), Short Form 3-item (UCLA-LS3-SF3) was used to assess loneliness, and a modified item of the UCLA-LS3-SF3 was used to measure the perception of increased social isolation during the pandemic. The outcome measures included the prevalence/incidence of pain (i.e., headache, neck or shoulder pain, upper limb pain, low back pain, and leg pain), pain intensity, and the prevalence of past/present chronic pain. Pain intensity was measured by the pain/discomfort item of the 5-level version of the EuroQol 5 Dimension scale. Odds ratios of pain prevalence/incidence and past/present chronic pain prevalence according to the UCLA-LS3-SF3 scoring groups (tertiles) and the frequency of the perceived increase in social isolation (categories 1–5) were calculated using multinomial logistic regression analysis. The mean pain intensity values among different loneliness and social isolation levels were tested using an analysis of covariance. Increased loneliness and the severity of the perceived social isolation were positively associated with the prevalence/incidence of pain, pain intensity, and the prevalence of past/present chronic pain.
AB - The aim of cross-sectional study was to investigate the association between loneliness, increased social isolation, and pain following the COVID-19 outbreak. A total of 25,482 participants, aged 15–79 years, were assessed using an internet survey; the University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (Version 3), Short Form 3-item (UCLA-LS3-SF3) was used to assess loneliness, and a modified item of the UCLA-LS3-SF3 was used to measure the perception of increased social isolation during the pandemic. The outcome measures included the prevalence/incidence of pain (i.e., headache, neck or shoulder pain, upper limb pain, low back pain, and leg pain), pain intensity, and the prevalence of past/present chronic pain. Pain intensity was measured by the pain/discomfort item of the 5-level version of the EuroQol 5 Dimension scale. Odds ratios of pain prevalence/incidence and past/present chronic pain prevalence according to the UCLA-LS3-SF3 scoring groups (tertiles) and the frequency of the perceived increase in social isolation (categories 1–5) were calculated using multinomial logistic regression analysis. The mean pain intensity values among different loneliness and social isolation levels were tested using an analysis of covariance. Increased loneliness and the severity of the perceived social isolation were positively associated with the prevalence/incidence of pain, pain intensity, and the prevalence of past/present chronic pain.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41598-021-97136-3
DO - 10.1038/s41598-021-97136-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 34545110
AN - SCOPUS:85115389425
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 11
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 18643
ER -