Table 1 Analytic sample characteristics by incident and persistent loneliness, Thailand, 2015–2017

Total N

3696

2855

790

N (%)

N (%)

N (%)

All

633 (22.2)

239 (30.3)

Age (in years)

45–64

≥ 65 or more

1685 (45.6)

2011 (54.4)

246 (18.1)

387 (25.9)

90 (29.8)

149 (30.5)

Sex

Female

Male

1971 (53.3)

1725 (46.7)

356 (23.8)

277 (20.3)

154 (34.3)

85 (24.9)

Education

≤Elementary

>Elementary

3100 (84.1)

588 (15.9)

555 (23.4)

75 (15.8)

213 (31.2)

26 (24.5)

Annual income

High

Low

1875 (50.7)

1821 (49.3)

286 (18.4)

347 (26.6)

86 (28.0)

153 (31.7)

Marital status

Married/cohabiting

Divorced/sep./never married

Widowed

2194 (60.1)

352 (9.6)

1105 (30.3)

352 (19.8)

56 (22.3)

213 (26.8)

105 (27.2)

27 (27.8)

103 (34.7)

Religion

Muslim or other

Buddhist

304 (8.2)

3390 (91.8)

36 (19.4)

597 (22.4)

28 (24.8)

211 (31.2)

Region

Bangkok

Central (excl. Bangkok)

North

Northeast

South

287 (7.8)

899 (24.3)

1126 (30.5)

659 (17.8)

725 (19.6)

66 (28.7)

170 (23.1)

207 (23.4)

128 (23.1)

62 (13.7)

21 (38.2)

66 (42.0)

71 (31.8)

33 (35.1)

48 (18.4)

Social participation

No

Yes

241 (6.5)

3450 (93.5)

46 (24.0)

587 (22.0)

16 (34.0)

223 (30.1)

Alcohol use

Never

Past

Current

2988 (80.8)

266 (7.2)

442 (12.0)

523 (22.8)

47 (23.6)

63 (17.5)

205 (31.7)

17 (25.8)

17 (22.1)

Smoking tobacco use

Never

Past

Current

293 (79.9)

292 (7.9)

451 (12.2)

515 (22.7)

45 (20.2)

73 (20.2)

199 (31.1)

19 (28.8)

21 (25.0)

Physical activity

≥ 150 min/week

< 150 min/week

605 (16.4)

3091 (83.6)

100 (20.2)

533 (22.6)

38 (36.5)

201 (29.3)

Body mass index

Normal

Under

Overweight

Obesity

1247 (37.6)

354 (10.7)

661 (19.9)

1057 (31.8)

226 (23.1)

70 (27.1)

112 (20.6)

171 (20.6)

81 (31.9)

29 (31.5)

23 (21.1)

73 (33.2)

Activities of Daily Living disability

No

Yes

3522 (96.9)

112 (3.1)

606 (21.8)

18 (37.5)

218 (30.4)

19 (29.7)

Accident

No

Yes

3249 (87.9)

447 (12.1)

544 (21.6)

89 (26.4)

201 (29.5)

38 (35.2)

Fall worry refrain from social activities

No

Yes

3425 (92.7)

271 (7.3)

587 (21.7)

46 (30.7)

203 (30.3)

36 (29.8)

Self-rated physical health status

High

Low

3024 (83.4)

600 (16.6)

489 (20.3)

137 (33.8)

162 (27.7)

74 (40.7)

Depressive symptoms

No

Yes

3118 (91.6)

285 (8.4)

576 (22.0)

22 (40.0)

147 (29.6)

71 (31.0)

Chronic conditions

Cardiovascular disease

No

Yes

3499 (94.7)

197 (5.3)

590 (21.8)

43 (29.1)

219 (29.5)

20 (42.6)

Hypertension

No

Yes

2379 (64.4)

1317 (35.6)

358 (19.1)

275 (28.0)

136 (29.2)

103 (31.8)

Endocrine (diabetes)

No

Yes

3139 (84.9)

557 (15.1)

527 (21.6)

106 (25.5)

192 (29.4)

47 (34.6)

Musculoskeletal

No

Yes

3434 (92.9)

262 (7.1)

573 (21.4)

60 (33.1)

211 (29.6)

28 (35.9)

Liver or kidney diseases

No

Yes

3608 (97.6)

88 (2.4)

620 (22.2)

13 (21.7)

232 (30.4)

7 (25.9)

Respiratory

No

Yes

3660 (99.0)

36 (1.0)

627 (22.2)

6 (22.2)

236 (30.2)

3 (33.3)

Cancer

No

Yes

3664 (99.1)

32 (0.9)

626 (22.1)

7 (31.8)

235 (30.1)

4 (40.0)

Sensorial

No

Yes

3129 (84.7)

567 (15.3)

530 (21.5)

103 (26.5)

189 (28.9)

59 (35.3)

Neurological

No

Yes

3665 (99.2)

31 (0.8)

626 (22.1)

7 (43.8)

234 (30.2)

5 (35.7)

Number of chronic conditions

Chronic conditions

0

1

2

3 or more

1716 (46.4)

1101 (29.8)

600 (16.2)

279 (7.5)

246 (17.8)

205 (24.3)

122 (27.5)

60 (33.0)

80 (26.4)

76 (31.3)

45 (30.2)

38 (40.0)