With the rising population of the elderly worldwide, especially
in developing countries, old age and its accompanied conditions
make mental and physical healthcare provision a critical issue
of the 21st century.This cross-sectional study was carried out
to determine the epidemiological pattern of loneliness and its
related factors in elderly women (age = 60 years) who were
covered by the health centers of Gonabad, Iran. After estimating
the sample size, 500 eligible subjects were selected through
proportional stratified sampling. Data were collected by a
questionnaire containing demographic characteristics and the
University of California, Los Angeles, Loneliness Scale. The
collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistical tests,
one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and chi-square tests in
SPSS 20.0. The prevalence of moderate and intense loneliness
was 50.4% and 39.4%, respectively. There were significant
relationships between the levels of loneliness and marital status
,education , and family status.The results of this study highlight
the necessity of attending to the feeling of loneliness experienced
by the elderly people, identifying the situations and events that
intensify this feeling, and establishing interventional programs to
resolve the problem.