5-Minute Check In: Social Connection and Mortality

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 connectionAnalysis of more than 458,000 participants with full data from the UK Biobank cohort linked to mortality registersWhat types of loneliness and social isolation are linked to a higher risk of death Potential implications for screeningGuest: 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.pdfSurgeon General Report on Social Connection: www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/sg-social-connection-general.pdf