ArticleGeriatrics & gerontology international2025
Loneliness and isolation: Are they associated with the wish for an earlier end of life?
Article in Geriatrics & gerontology international, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- [Quality of relationships among the oldest old in Germany-an examination of the association with depressive symptoms and loneliness].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2026Article
- [Geriatric medicine shapes the Future : Recommendations for modern Geriatric Medicine that places older people and their needs at the centre].Zeitschrift fur Gerontologie und Geriatrie · 2026Review
- Understanding death wishes in later life: a narrative review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Suicidality and/or Death-Related Thoughts in Health Workers After Pandemics: The Role of DYMERS.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Loneliness and isolation: Are they associated with the wish for an earlier end of life?Geriatrics & gerontology international · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimTo examine the association of loneliness and social isolation with the desired age at death among middle-aged and older adults in Germany.
methodsData were taken from the German Aging Survey (wave 8: nationally representative sample of community-dwelling individuals aged ≥43 years; n = 3826). The mean age equaled 69.3 years (SD 11.3 years, 43-99 years). Loneliness and social isolation were both quantified using psychometrically sound and widely used tools. Several sociodemographic, lifestyle-related and health-related covariates were included in linear regression analysis (with robust standard errors).
resultsThe mean desired age at death was 90.1 years (SD 8.0 years). Regressions showed that there was a robust association of loneliness (β = -1.47, P < 0.001) and social isolation (β = -1.49, P < 0.001) with lower desired age at death among the total sample, even after adjusting for a wide array of covariates. In the fully-adjusted model, such associations were also present among both men and women (with significant sex differences for the association between loneliness and the outcome; i.e., more pronounced association between loneliness and the desired age at death among men).
conclusionsLoneliness (among men in particular) and social isolation were both associated with a lower desired age at death. This stresses the importance of tackling loneliness and social isolation in later life. It is of note that this is the very first study examining the association of loneliness and social isolation with the desired age at death. Thus, it can serve as a basis for future studies. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2025; 25: 1412-1417.
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