Research shows that feeling lonely can lead to poor health. We also know that feeling lonely over longer periods leads to poorer health. We don’t know if having a disability and being lonely over long periods are related. This article is the first published study to look at this.

The researchers wanted to find out how many people with and without disabilities felt lonely. They were most interested in finding any changes over time. They used existing data from a survey to do this. The survey was done in the United Kingdom and is called ‘Understanding Society’. Adults aged 16-65 completed the survey. It included people with and without disabilities.

The researchers used information collected 3 times between 2017 and 2020. The researchers looked at how many people felt lonely at each point in time. They compared how many people with and without disabilities were lonely. Then they looked at how long people were lonely for.

The study found that being lonely was more common among disabled people than non-disabled people. Moderate and major loneliness were also more common for disabled people. Disabled people were twice as likely to feel lasting loneliness than non-disabled people.

The researchers also wanted to know about any risk factors for lasting loneliness. These are things that make it more likely for someone to feel lonely over longer periods. Since loneliness was much more common for people with disabilities, having a disability was identified a risk factor. Disabled people who were female, renting, and not working or studying full time were even more likely to feel lasting loneliness. Being stressed about money and not living as a couple were also risk factors.

This research compared loneliness among disabled and non-disabled people. It shows us that disabled people are twice as likely to feel loneliness over long periods. It also looks at what makes it more likely for a person with disability to feel lasting loneliness.

About the author:

Rosie (she/they) is a lived experience research assistant living with mental illness. She loves the challenge of pursuing her interests in literature and health sciences concurrently and is proudly the only poet-physiotherapist that she knows of.