Coyte, A;
Perry, R;
Papacosta, AO;
Lennon, L;
Whincup, PH;
Wannamethee, SG;
Ramsay, ASE;
(2022)
Social relationships and the risk of incident heart failure: results from a prospective population-based study of older men.
European Heart Journal Open
, 2
(1)
, Article oeab045. 10.1093/ehjopen/oeab045.
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Abstract
Aims: Limited social relationships, particularly in older adults, have been implicated as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, little is known about the associations between poor social relationships and heart failure incidence. Methods and results: Prospective study of socially representative men aged 60-79 years drawn from general practices in 24 British towns and followed up for a maximum of 18 years. A total of 3698 participants with no previous diagnosis of heart failure were included. Information on social relationships was based on a combination of marital status, living circumstances, and social contacts with friends and family. These provided information on contact frequency, contact satisfaction, and a social relationship score (low to high) combining frequency and satisfaction with contact. Heart failure included both incidents non-fatal heart failure and death from heart failure. Among 3698 participants, 330 developed heart failure. Men with low compared to high frequency of contact with family and friends had an increased risk of incident heart failure [hazard ratio (HR) 1.59, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15-2.18]; this remained statistically significant after adjustment for social class, behavioural, and biological risk factors. Low compared to high scores for satisfaction with contacts was associated with increased risk of heart failure (adjusted HR = 1.54; 95% CI 1.14-2.07). Lower social relationship scores (combining frequency and satisfaction with contact) were associated with greater risk of incident heart failure (adjusted HR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.02-1.87). Marital status and living alone were not significantly associated with heart failure. Conclusion: Weaker social relationships appear to increase the risk of developing heart failure in older age. Further research is needed to investigate pathways underlying these associations and to test whether interventions to strengthen social relationships can reduce the risk of heart failure.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Social relationships and the risk of incident heart failure: results from a prospective population-based study of older men |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1093/ehjopen/oeab045 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1093/ehjopen/oeab045 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com |
| Keywords: | heart failure, social isolation |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Primary Care and Population Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10142422 |
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