J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2023 Jan 24:gbad010. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbad010. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Both loneliness and use of psychotropic drugs are common in later life. While loneliness has been found to be associated with psychotropic drugs use, most studies have been cross-sectional, and we know less about their longitudinal associations.
METHODS: Drawing on five waves of data from Health and Retirement Study and two statistical approaches (fixed-effects and cross-lagged panel models), we examine longitudinal associations between loneliness and use of prescription pain and depression/anxiety medications.
RESULTS: Across 57,654 observations among 20,589 respondents, 22.8% reported regular use of pain prescription medications, 17.8% regular use of depression/anxiety prescription medication, and 15.6% feeling lonely in the past week. Loneliness and use of depression/anxiety medications were associated according to both modelling approaches, net of covariates. In years when a respondent reported feeling lonely, odds of regular use of depression/anxiety medications were 1.42 times higher (p<.001) than years when they did not feel lonely. Regarding reciprocation, odds of regular depression/anxiety medication use in a given wave range from 1.3 to 1.5 times higher if loneliness was reported in prior wave. Likewise, the odds of reporting loneliness in a given wave range from 1.5 to 1.8 times higher if regular depression/anxiety medication was reported in prior wave.
DISCUSSION: Prior loneliness predicts contemporaneous regular use of depression/anxiety prescription medications. While this confirms the directional association found in prior studies, we found prior use of depression/anxiety medications is also associated with increased odds of loneliness, suggesting further research is needed to understand mechanisms that explain their associations and potential interventions.
PMID:36691876 | DOI:10.1093/geronb/gbad010
