Research Article

Loneliness of Elderly and Affecting Factors During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Volume: 4 Number: 2 August 31, 2025
TR EN

Loneliness of Elderly and Affecting Factors During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

The study was conducted to examine the loneliness of elderly and affecting factors during the Covid-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted 104 elderly in Türkiye. “Elderly Information Form” and “Loneliness Scale” were used as data collection tools. The total mean loneliness scale score of the elderly was 9.47±6.04. “Emotional loneliness” sub-dimension score was 5.96±3.82, “Social loneliness” sub-dimension score was 3.49±2.78. It was determined that the expressions of feeling lonely of the elderly affected the scale mean score (p=0.000) and their participation in social activities had a statistically significant effect on the social loneliness sub-dimension mean score (p=0.038). It was concluded that the mean score of the scale was the middle level. It can be speculated that this situation arises from the strong family relations as a social structure, and this may be effective in reducing the loneliness of the elderly.

Keywords

Ethical Statement

The study compiled ethically with the declaration of Helsinki. In order to conduct the research, and ethical approval from a University Medical Research Ethics Committee (IRB No: 21-11.1T/32) and T.R. Implementation permission was received from the Ministry of Health, General Directorate of Health Services. A written informed consent was obtained from all study participants. The details disclosed included the study purpose, confdentiality, participants’ autonomy, voluntary participation and freedom to withdraw from participating at any time.

Thanks

We thank all participants for their collaboration.

References

  1. Akgül, H., & Yeşilyaprak, B. (2015). Adaption of loneliness scale for elderly into Turkish culture: Validity and reliability study. Elderly Issues Research Journal, 8(1), 34–45.
  2. Akgül, H., & Yeşilyaprak, B. (2018). The effect of psychoeducation program for reducing loneliness on loneliness level of the elderly. OPUS International Journal of Society Researches, 8(14), 11–52.
  3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2021). Provisional death counts for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/mortality-overview.htm
  4. Cihan, F., & Gökgöz Durmaz, F. (2021). Evaluation of COVID-19 phobia and the feeling of loneliness in the geriatric age group. International Journal of Clinical Practice, 75(6), e14089.
  5. Ciotti, M., Ciccozzi, M., Terrinoni, A., Jiang, W. C., Wang, C. B., & Bernardini, S. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic. Critical Reviews in Clinical Laboratory Sciences, 57(6), 365–388. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408363.2020.1783198
  6. Dahlberg, L. (2021). Loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aging & Mental Health, 25(7), 1161–1164.
  7. Donizzetti, A. R., & Lagacé, M. (2022). COVID-19 and the elderly's mental illness: The role of risk perception, social isolation, loneliness, and ageism. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(8), 4513.
  8. Dziedzic, B., Idzik, A., Kobos, E., Sienkiewicz, Z., Kryczka, T., & Fidecki, W. (2021). Loneliness and mental health among the elderly in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Public Health, 21(1), 1976.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

​Internal Diseases Nursing​

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

August 31, 2025

Submission Date

January 15, 2025

Acceptance Date

August 5, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 4 Number: 2

APA
Kankaya, H., Yıldırak, B., & Karaman, E. (2025). Loneliness of Elderly and Affecting Factors During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study. Sağlık Bakım Ve Rehabilitasyon Dergisi, 4(2), 1-10. https://izlik.org/JA42KT53KW
AMA
1.Kankaya H, Yıldırak B, Karaman E. Loneliness of Elderly and Affecting Factors During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study. SABARED. 2025;4(2):1-10. https://izlik.org/JA42KT53KW
Chicago
Kankaya, Hülya, Beyza Yıldırak, and Emine Karaman. 2025. “Loneliness of Elderly and Affecting Factors During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study”. Sağlık Bakım Ve Rehabilitasyon Dergisi 4 (2): 1-10. https://izlik.org/JA42KT53KW.
EndNote
Kankaya H, Yıldırak B, Karaman E (August 1, 2025) Loneliness of Elderly and Affecting Factors During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study. Sağlık Bakım ve Rehabilitasyon Dergisi 4 2 1–10.
IEEE
[1]H. Kankaya, B. Yıldırak, and E. Karaman, “Loneliness of Elderly and Affecting Factors During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study”, SABARED, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 1–10, Aug. 2025, [Online]. Available: https://izlik.org/JA42KT53KW
ISNAD
Kankaya, Hülya - Yıldırak, Beyza - Karaman, Emine. “Loneliness of Elderly and Affecting Factors During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study”. Sağlık Bakım ve Rehabilitasyon Dergisi 4/2 (August 1, 2025): 1-10. https://izlik.org/JA42KT53KW.
JAMA
1.Kankaya H, Yıldırak B, Karaman E. Loneliness of Elderly and Affecting Factors During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study. SABARED. 2025;4:1–10.
MLA
Kankaya, Hülya, et al. “Loneliness of Elderly and Affecting Factors During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study”. Sağlık Bakım Ve Rehabilitasyon Dergisi, vol. 4, no. 2, Aug. 2025, pp. 1-10, https://izlik.org/JA42KT53KW.
Vancouver
1.Hülya Kankaya, Beyza Yıldırak, Emine Karaman. Loneliness of Elderly and Affecting Factors During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study. SABARED [Internet]. 2025 Aug. 1;4(2):1-10. Available from: https://izlik.org/JA42KT53KW