Digestive diseases in older adults linked to loneliness, depression

Psychological factors are a contributing element to developing digestive diseases among older adults, an American study has found.

Researchers from the University of Michigan analysed Health and Retirement Study data from 2008–2016, a nationally representative panel study of participants 50 years and older and their spouses, and found that nearly 40% of adults reported they were living with a digestive disease of some kind.

Michigan Medicine gastroenterologist Shirley Ann Cohen-Mekelburg, M.D., noted that current approaches in determining gastrointestinal diseases fail to consider contributing psychological factors, such as loneliness, depression and isolation.

“These factors have the potential to significantly impact gastrointestinal health, and they also play a crucial role in the overall wellbeing of our patients.”

This led Cohen-Mekelburg and a team of fellow gastroenterologists and hepatologists to examine the rates of loneliness, depression and social isolation in older adults both with and without digestive diseases.

The study involved around 20,000 individuals in the US who were 50 years or older, including spouses. Out of a pool of 7110 participants, the team identified 56% of individuals with a digestive disease and 44% without one.

“Overall, 60.4% and 55.6% of respondents with and without digestive diseases reported loneliness, while 12.7% and 7.5% reported severe depression, and 8.9% and 8.7% reported social isolation, respectively,” Cohen-Mekelburg said.

“We found that individuals with a digestive disease were more likely to report ‘poor or fair’ health when compared to those without one. And among patients with a digestive disease, loneliness, as well as moderate to severe depression, were associated with greater odds of self-reporting ‘poor or fair’ health.”

Cohen-Mekelburg hopes these findings empower gastroenterologists to “screen patients for depression and loneliness,” in addition to physical symptoms. “By doing this, providers can better establish care pathways for mental health treatment for their patients, which is hugely important,” she said.

“Our research shows that gastroenterologists are in a unique position to help their patients achieve good overall health.”

The findings were recently published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

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