Single-item versus scale: Comparing respondent demographic, social, and health characteristics by measure of loneliness using the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) data.

The majority of CLSA respondents were classified consistently by both loneliness measures, but approximately one in five were classified differently depending on the measure used.

• Total sample included 43,235 CLSA respondents from baseline (2010-2015) and follow-up 1 (2015-2018)
• 14% (n=5,848) were identified as lonely by both the single-item question and the 3-item scale
• 67% (n=28,998) were identified as not lonely by both measures
• 19% were classified differently depending on which measure was used

Individuals identified as lonely by both measures were more often older, women, less educated, and had lower income.

• This pattern was consistent across both the single-item CES-D-10 question and the 3-item Loneliness Scale
• These characteristics were identified through unweighted descriptive statistics examining demographic, social, and health characteristics across measures and response categories
• The sample drew from both the Tracking cohort (computer-assisted telephone interviews) and Comprehensive cohort (in-home assessment)

Those classified as severely lonely on the single-item question but not lonely on the scale were older than other groups.

• This finding emerged from cross-tabulation of ordinal response categories between the two measures
• The ordinal classification used three categories: not lonely, moderately lonely, and severely lonely
• This discordant group represents a subset of the 19% classified differently by the two measures

Respondents who were moderately lonely on the single-item question tended to be married, report higher income, and have greater social contact.

• This profile differed notably from those classified as severely lonely or from those identified as lonely by the scale
• This group also represents part of the discordant 19% classified differently across measures
• Social contact was among the social characteristics examined alongside demographic and health characteristics

Loneliness was measured using two instruments: a direct single-item question from the CES-D-10 and the indirect 3-item Loneliness Scale.

• The single-item question came from the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10)
• The multi-item measure was the 3-item Loneliness Scale, which is an indirect measure
• Both dichotomous (lonely/not lonely) and ordinal (not lonely, moderately lonely, severely lonely) classifications were used for analysis
• The study was a cross-sectional analysis of population-based survey data

The CLSA sample included respondents from both Tracking and Comprehensive cohorts at baseline and first follow-up.

• Baseline data collection occurred from 2010-2015 and follow-up 1 from 2015-2018
• The Tracking cohort used computer-assisted telephone interviews
• The Comprehensive cohort used in-home assessments
• Total analytic sample was n=43,235