5-Minute Check In: Social Connection and Mortality

5-Minute Clinical Update and Grand Rounds with Dr. Thomas McGinn

Components of social connection are associated with mortality, but research examining their independent and combined effects in the same dataset is lacking. That has now changed thanks to a recent study published in BMC Medicine. We're joined by the primary author of that study to discuss the results and to get his perspective on social connectivity, loneliness and isolation and the impact on mortality.
Discussed:
Subjective and objective types of social connection
Analysis of more than 458,000 participants with full data from the UK Biobank cohort linked to mortality registers
What types of loneliness and social isolation are linked to a higher risk of death
Potential implications for screening
Guest: study author and Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow Dr. Hamish Foster
References:
Study: https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-023-03055-7
Surgeon General Advisory: https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf
Surgeon General Report on Social Connection: www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/sg-social-connection-general.pdf