Perioperative medicine & outcomes
Association of loneliness and social isolation with postoperative outcomes: a retrospective registry study
Main findingResult — go to the resultAdjusted odds ratio 1.36 95% CI 1.10–1.68Authors' conclusion
Individuals, particularly males, who were socially isolated but not lonely had increased odds of postoperative complications.
Study context
- Population
- UK Biobank participants with complete loneliness and social isolation data and eligible surgery within 1 yr of baseline, with national health registry linkage
- Participants
- 27,905 participants
- Exposure
- Loneliness–social isolation groups
- Outcome
- Composite of:
- 30-day major postoperative complication
- 30-day postoperative emergency admission
- 90-day mortality
Methodological detailsregistry (UK Biobank), multivariable logistic regression
- Registry (UK Biobank)
- Multivariable logistic regression
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Adjusted odds ratio
1.36
95% CI 1.10–1.68
P = 0.004
Socially isolated but not lonely
aOR 1.36 (95% CI 1.10–1.68); P = 0.004
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
30-day major postoperative complication
| OR (95% CI) | P value | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Socially isolated but not lonely | 1.35 (1.04–1.72) | P = 0.018 | |
| 0.512Odds ratio (log scale) |
Primary outcome by sex (subgroup)
- Association remained statistically significant in males but not females
Original publication
Association of loneliness and social isolation with postoperative outcomes: a retrospective registry study. Br J Anaesth. Published 23 October 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →