Table 1 Participant demographics and bivariate relationships with loneliness in the last week
From: The public health impact of loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic
Sample n (%) | In the last week, how often have you felt lonely (%) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Never | Occasionally | Often | Always | \({{\varvec{\chi}}}^{2}\) | p | ||
All | 8,960 (100.0) | 62.9 | 24.7 | 9.0 | 3.5 | ||
Age group (years) | |||||||
18–34 | 861 (9.6) | 49.6 | 31.7 | 14.3 | 4.4 | 95.7 | < 0.001 |
35–54 | 2,482 (27.7) | 61.8 | 24.7 | 9.9 | 3.6 | ||
55–74 | 4,447 (49.6) | 65.2 | 23.3 | 8.1 | 3.4 | ||
≥ 75 | 1,170 (13.1) | 66.0 | 24.7 | 6.5 | 2.8 | ||
Sex | |||||||
Female | 5,443 (60.7) | 57.3 | 28.0 | 10.7 | 4.0 | 188.7 | < 0.001 |
Male | 3,517 (39.3) | 71.5 | 19.5 | 6.3 | 2.6 | ||
Minority ethnic group | |||||||
No | 8,748 (97.6) | 63.1 | 24.6 | 9.0 | 3.3 | 18.8 | < 0.001 |
Yes | 212 (2.4) | 52.8 | 29.7 | 9.4 | 8.0 | ||
Chronic health conditiona | |||||||
No | 6,428 (71.7) | 64.9 | 24.3 | 8.1 | 2.7 | 74.2 | < 0.001 |
Yes | 2,532 (28.3) | 57.7 | 25.6 | 11.3 | 5.4 | ||
Had COVID-19 | |||||||
No | 7,079 (79.0) | 63.4 | 24.8 | 8.5 | 3.3 | 23.4 | 0.005 |
Yes, and now recovered | 1,208 (13.5) | 62.8 | 22.8 | 10.5 | 3.8 | ||
Yes, and currently has symptoms | 233 (2.6) | 52.8 | 30.0 | 12.0 | 5.2 | ||
Don't know | 440 (4.9) | 58.9 | 25.7 | 10.9 | 4.5 | ||
Employment status | |||||||
Employed | 4,529 (50.5) | 65.5 | 24.7 | 7.9 | 2.0 | 192.6 | < 0.001 |
Unemployed | 425 (4.7) | 38.8 | 33.9 | 17.4 | 9.9 | ||
Otherb | 4,006 (44.7) | 62.4 | 23.7 | 9.4 | 4.5 | ||
Financial situation | |||||||
The same | 5,947 (66.4) | 65.6 | 23.7 | 7.5 | 3.2 | 413.5 | < 0.001 |
Much better | 404 (4.5) | 69.8 | 20.3 | 7.4 | 2.5 | ||
A bit better | 1,036 (11.7) | 68.7 | 24.9 | 5.6 | 0.8 | ||
A bit worse | 1,005 (11.2) | 50.1 | 32.0 | 13.5 | 4.3 | ||
Much worse | 568 (6.3) | 40.5 | 25.2 | 23.8 | 10.6 | ||
Deprivation quintile | |||||||
1—Most deprived | 1,538 (17.2) | 56.2 | 26.3 | 11.7 | 5.9 | 110.4 | < 0.001 |
2 | 1,827 (20.4) | 59.7 | 26.3 | 9.0 | 5.0 | ||
3 | 1,747 (19.5) | 63.4 | 24.6 | 9.3 | 2.7 | ||
4 | 1,888 (21.1) | 67.3 | 23.3 | 7.3 | 2.2 | ||
5—Least deprived | 1,960 (21.9) | 66.3 | 23.5 | 8.2 | 2.0 | ||