Laurie A. Theeke

TL;DR: Marital status, self-report of health, number of chronic illnesses, gross motor impairment, fine motor impairment and living alone were predictors of loneliness, but age, female gender, use of home care, and frequency of healthcare visits were not predictive.

TL;DR: This study assesses sociodemographic and health-related factors associated with loneliness and outcome differences between loneliness groups using a sample of 13,812 older adults from the U.S Health and Retirement Study to help guide gerontological nursing practice.

TL;DR: A systematic review of quantitative studies that examined the links between loneliness and common chronic conditions including: heart disease, hypertension, stroke, lung disease, and metabolic disorders finds that loneliness is associated with obesity and with psychological stress in obese persons.

TL;DR: The results indicate a significant association between elevated baseline high sensitivity CRP and unfavorable long-term functional outcome in ischemic stroke patients, and emphasize the need for additional research to characterize the relationship between acute inflammatory markers and long- term functional outcome using well-defined diagnostic criteria.

TL;DR: Evidence is provided that loneliness is a significant problem for older chronically ill Appalachian adults and that it may be related to low emotional support and Screening for loneliness and designing interventions that target the emotional aspects of loneliness could be important in this population.