Work

Characterizing Loneliness and Health in US Adults: An analysis of 2024 National Health Interview Survey

Year: 2026

Type: preprint

Abstract: Background: Loneliness is common and deleterious to health. Yet little is known about its population burden and health correlates in the US. We aimed to determine the prevalence of loneliness and characterize its health and social functioning correlates among US adults. Methods: With data from the National Health Interview Study (2024), we used survey-weighted Poisson regression to estimate relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for frequent loneliness by levels of self-reported general health, social/emotional support, social functioning, and healthcare utilization, adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, number of people in household, marital status, and psychological distress. Results: 12 million US adults reported usually or always feeling lonely, which was associated with worse general health and social/emotional support, work and social participation limitations, and healthcare disengagement. Conclusions: Loneliness affects millions of US adults, with substantial health and social functioning burden.

Source: medRxiv

DOI: 10.64898/2026.04.16.26351034

Authors: Troy C. Dildine, Colleen Burke, Flavia P. Kapos

Institutions: Stanford Medicine, Stanford University, Duke University

Language: English

Topic: Health disparities and outcomes

Subfield: Health

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institutes of Health