Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Quality of Life Research (2020) 29:2375–2381 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-020-02493-7 Factors associated with social isolation in community‑dwelling older adults: a cross‑sectional study Reshma A. Merchant 1,3  · Shumei Germaine Liu 1  · Jia Yi Lim 3  · Xiaoxi Fu 1  · Yiong Huak Chan 2 Accepted: 26 March 2020 / Published online: 6 April 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 Abstract Purpose Social isolation in older adults is a major public health problem and associated with increased morbidity and mor- tality. There are limited data on the association between social isolation and physical function including gait speed. Hence, this study is to determine the prevalence of social isolation and its association with gait speed, frailty, cognition, depression and comorbidities amongst community-dwelling older adults. Methods Social isolation, depression, frailty and perceived general health were assessed using 6-item Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS-6), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), FRAIL scale and EuroQol EQ-5D-5L questionnaire which includes EQ Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS), respectively. Cognition was assessed using the Chinese Mini Mental State Examination (cMMSE), while physical performance test included gait speed and short physical performance battery test. Binary logistic regression was performed to determine the infuence of socio-demographic, medical, functional and cognitive variables on social isolation. Results Out of 202 participants, 27.7% were robust, 66.8% of participants were pre-frail, and 5.4% of participants were frail. Almost half (45.5%, n = 92) of the participants were found to be at risk of social isolation. A poor social network was negatively associated with mean gait speed (OR = 0.674, CI 0.464–0.979, p = 0.039), EQ-VAS (OR = 0.561, CI 0.390–0.806, p < 0.01) and cMMSE (OR = 0.630, 95% CI 0.413–0.960, p = 0.032). Conclusion Almost half of older adults in the community are at risk of social isolation with a very signifcant association with gait speed, cMMSE and EQ-VAS scores. Keywords Social isolation · Older adults · Gait speed · Quality of life Introduction The world’s population is ageing especially in Asia where the number of persons aged 60 years and older is grow- ing faster than all younger age group [1]. Older adults aged 65 years and above in Singapore accounts for 13.7% of the total population, and will double by 2030 [2]. Singapore is ranked third in global life expectancy ranking [3]. Commu- nities that facilitate healthy ageing in place are increasingly relevant in meeting these needs, especially with a growing trend of older adults preferring to live in their own homes and communities, even if this means living alone [4, 5]. In addition to being healthy and enabling an individual to age in place, strong social networks have a direct impact on health and well-being, with studies showing an association with increased quality of life [6] and a protective efect on cognition and the development of dementia [7]. Conversely, social isolation in older adults has been shown to increase hospital readmission, disease morbidity and mortality rates [8, 9]. It has been debated that efect of social isolation on mortality is comparable to quitting smoking and exceeds many well-known risk factors such as obesity and physi- cal inactivity [10]. Older adults are particularly at risk for Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-020-02493-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Reshma A. Merchant reshmaa@nuhs.edu.sg 1 Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, 1E Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119228, Singapore 2 Biostatistics Unit, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore 3 Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore