Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Loneliness, fear, and quality of life among elderly in Sweden: a gender perspective

  • Original Articles
  • Published:
Aging Clinical and Experimental Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background and aims: The aim of this work was to study feelings of loneliness and fear among elderly people (75+) in a gender perspective, and to explore their causes. Methods: A cross-sectional study (postal questionnaire) with a randomised and age-stratified sample (n=4277) was used to study the variables of interest. Because the variables were compared between men and women, weighted values for means, standard deviations, and ratios were used. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify the causes of loneliness and fear. Results: Findings showed that loneliness and fear were both more frequently reported by women than men. Loneliness was significantly associated with gender, marital status, living in special accommodation, fear, and need of help with activities of daily living (IADL). Fear was significantly associated with gender, number of children, having someone to trust, loneliness, and being in need of help with IADL. Those who reported loneliness and/or fear had significantly lower health-related quality of life than those who did not. Many of the elderly feared violence/crime, but only a few had been exposed to violence/crime. Conclusions: Loneliness and fear are common among elderly people. Both variables seem to be related to each other and were both found to be “threats” to a good life in old age. However, to minimize these “threats” and perhaps improve these people’s quality of life, action can be taken in the care for elderly people such as involving the social network and reducing the need of help with IADL.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Birren JE, Lubben JE, Rowe JC, Deutchman DE (eds). The concept and measurement of quality of life in the frail elderly. San Diego: Academic Press, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Tijhuis MAR, De Jong-Gierveld J, Feskens EJ, Kromhout D. Changes in and factors related to loneliness in older men. The Zutphen elderly study. Age Ageing 1999; 28: 491–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Holmen K, Ericsson K, Andersson L, Winblad B. Loneliness among elderly people living in Stockholm: a population study. J Adv Nurs 1992; 17: 43–51.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Holmen K. Ericsson K. Winblad B. Loneliness and living conditions of the oldest old. Scand J Soc Med 1994; 22: 15–9.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Samuelsson G, Andersson L, Hagberg B. Loneliness in relation to social, psychological and medical variables over a 13-year period: a study of the elderly in a Swedish rural district. J Ment Health Aging 1998; 4: 361–78.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Grimby A, Wiklund I. Health-related quality of life in old age. A study among 76-year-old Swedish urban citizens. Scand J Soc Med 1994; 22: 7–14.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Greve W. Fear of crime among the elderly: foresight, not fright. Int Rev Victim 1998; 5: 277–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. SCB. Statistisk årsbok för Sverige 2001. (Statistical yearbook for Sweden 2001) [In Swedish] Stockholm: Statistiska Centralbyrån. 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Ferraro K, LaGraange RL. Are older people most afraid of crime? Reconsidering age differences in fear of victimization. J Gerontol 1992; 47 (Suppl): 233–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Pain RH. Elderly women and fear of violent crime: the least likely victims? Br J Criminol 1995; 35: 584–98.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Ware J Jr, Kosinski M, Keller KD. A 12-item Short-Form Health Survey: construction of scales and preliminary tests of reliability and validity. Med Care 1996; 34: 220–33.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Ware JE, Sherbourne CD. The MOS 36-item Short-form Health Survey (SF-36) I. Conceptual framework and item selection. Med Care 1992; 30: 473–84.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Sullivan M, Karlsson J, Taft C. SF-12 Hälsoenkät. Svensk manual. (SF-12 Swedish manual). [In Swedish] Göteborg: Göteborg University, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Hayes V, Morris J, Wolfe C, Morgan M. The SF-36 health survey questionnaire: is it suitable for use with older adults? Age Ageing 1995; 24: 120–5.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Gandek B, Ware JE, Aaronson NK, et al. Cross-validation of item selection and scoring for the SF-12 health survey in nine countries: results from the IQOLA project. J Clin Epidemiol 1998; 51: 1171–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Cochran W. Sampling Techniques. 3rd ed. New York: Wiley. 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Cronbach LJ. Coefficient alpha and the internal structures of tests. Psychometrika 1951; 3: 297–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Hosmer DW. Lemeshow S. Applied logistic regression. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley, 2000.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  19. Andersson L. Loneliness research and interventions: a review of the literature. Ageing & Mental Health 1998; 2: 264–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. McCamish-Svensson C, Samuelsson G, Hagberg, B. Correlates and prevalence of loneliness from young old to oldest old: results from a Swedish cohort. Int J Aging 2001; 3: 1–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Fees BS. Martin P. Poon LW. A model of loneliness in older adults. J Gerontol 1999; 54: 231–9.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, P.O.Box 157, SE-221 00, Lund, Sweden

    Ulf Jakobsson PhD & Ingalill Rahm Hallberg

  2. The Vårdal Institute, The Swedish Institute for Health Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Ingalill Rahm Hallberg

Authors
  1. Ulf Jakobsson PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ingalill Rahm Hallberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ulf Jakobsson PhD.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jakobsson, U., Hallberg, I.R. Loneliness, fear, and quality of life among elderly in Sweden: a gender perspective. Aging Clin Exp Res 17, 494–501 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03327417

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03327417

Keywords

Search

Navigation