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Visiting family and friends once a month as they age could help them live longer, new research on half a million people suggests.
A new study by researchers at the University of Glasgow, UK, published in BMC Medicine on Friday found a link between never being visited by friends or family and an increased risk of dying.
While social isolation has previously been linked to dying earlier, the new research investigated the potential effects of different types of social interaction on lifespan. It found that while all forms played a part, visits from friends and family, participating in a weekly group activity, and not living alone appeared to make the biggest difference.
Researchers used data from 458,146 UK adults aged between 37 and 73, with an average age of 56.5, recruited between 2006 and 2010. The participants were asked questions about five different forms of social interaction. Two were subjective — how often they were able to confide in someone close to them and how often they felt lonely — and three were objective — how often friends and family visited, how often they participated in a weekly group activity, and whether they lived alone.
When the researchers followed up an average of 12.6 years later (depending on when each person had been recruited), they found that 33,135 of the participants had died.
While those who socialized less were more likely to have died, it was the objective forms that had the strongest link, particularly never being visited by friends and family, which was associated with a 39% increased risk of death.
Even taking part in weekly group activities didn't appear to lessen the risk if friends and family didn't also visit, and one visit per month was linked with a significantly lower risk of death, the study found.
Interestingly, more frequent visits didn't reduce the risk further, lead study author Hamish Foster, a clinical research fellow specializing in health and social inequalities at the University of Glasgow, told Insider.
Living alone and being isolated in other ways, such as not doing weekly group activities or having regular family and friend visits, was linked to a 77% higher risk of death.
"We also tried to take into account lots of other factors that could explain the findings — like how old people were, their gender, their socioeconomic status, whether they were a smoker and more," Foster said. "And even after removing those factors from the equation it still showed that these social connections were important for risk of death."
The researchers highlighted the study's limitations and said the findings may not apply to everyone. For example, the data they used from the UK Biobank does not represent the UK population as a whole, plus the social interaction measures were both simple and self-reported.
Foster told Insider that the study cannot prove that the lack of socialization causes death, but it contributes to existing evidence that suggests isolation and loneliness could cause poor health. More research is needed to reach more confident conclusions, he said.
The study also didn't measure the quality of social connections, merely their number.
"Humans are really complicated and so are our connections and our measures in this study are pretty crude compared with what humans are capable of, but this study is still very detailed and is starting to drill down into how different types of connection are important," Foster said.
The link between social interaction and longevity is not new. In fact, it is often cited as a key lifestyle factor in the world's Blue Zones, which are the places with high proportions of centenarians.
For example, in Okinawa, Japan, there is a tradition of "moai," which involves living within strong social networks.
Equally, on the Greek island of Ikaria, spending time with family is an important part of the culture, and meals are seen as occasions to come together.
While the study participants were middle aged and older, Foster said that there is existing research that suggests younger people can benefit from social connection too, and more needs to be done for people of all ages who are lonely and isolated.
"We need to see more society-level interventions and support that make social connections easier, more likely, and of higher quality," Foster said. "For example, community centers, parks, places, and activities that make it easy for people to meet and connect for high quality relationships."
