Social isolation, loneliness, and health among older adults: evidence from Public Health, Imaging analysis, Biomarkers

•Social isolation is the objective absence of social contact and reduced social network size (Steptoe, Shankar et al. 2013, Courtin and Knapp 2017).

•Loneliness is often defined as the subjective evaluation of social relationships which reflects the individual’s dissatisfaction with the frequency and closeness of their social contacts (Steptoe, Shankar et al. 2013, Courtin and Knapp 2017).

•Socially connected individuals can feel lonely, just as socially isolated individuals can be satisfied with their social relationships (Rico-Uribe, Caballero et al. 2016).

•Given weak correlations among them, isolation and loneliness may influence health through different pathways (Holt-Lunstad, Robles et al. 2017).

•Analyzing both objective and subjective aspects of social relationships simultaneously can allow us to better understand how different dimensions of social relationships affect health.