Disability-related inequalities in the prevalence of loneliness across the lifespan: trends from Australia, 2003 to 2020

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Experiencing loneliness can be distressing and increasing evidence indicates that being lonely is associated with poor physical and mental health outcomes. Cross-sectional studies have demonstrated that people with disability have increased risk of experiencing loneliness compared to people without disability. However, we do not know if these inequalities have changed over time. This study investigated the prevalence of loneliness for people with disability in Australia annually from 2003 to 2020 to examine whether disability-related inequalities in loneliness have changed over time, and disaggregated results for subgroups of people with disability by age group, sex, and disabili..