Loneliness doubles risk of physical pain, study suggests

A new study led by researchers from City St George’s, University of London, has revealed the strong links between loneliness and physical pain across 139 countries, highlighting the significant role of psychological distress.

The paper, published in Scientific Reports, analyzed data from 256,760 people aged 15 to 100, collected in the 2023 and 2024 Gallup World Poll. The findings show that individuals who reported feeling lonely were more than twice as likely to experience physical pain compared to those who did not.

Researchers found that loneliness was also associated with higher odds of reporting health problems and psychological distress. Lonely people had over two times higher odds of experiencing pain, nearly two times higher odds of having health problems, and were 25.8% more likely to report distress.

The study, which involved Dr. Lucía Macchia and Dr. Anne-Kathrin Fett from the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at City St George’s, examined how different factors contributed to the connection between loneliness and pain. Psychological distress explained the largest proportion of the link, accounting for more than 60% of the association, compared with 18.9% for health problems and 14% for social and demographic factors such as support networks.

It was also found that lonely individuals were more likely to have only an elementary education. They were less often in full-time employment, more likely to work part-time wanting to work full-time, to be unemployed or out of the workforce, and to have a lower average personal income than non-lonely individuals.

Importantly, the associations were found across all age groups and were more pronounced in women than in men. While older people were more likely to experience loneliness, pain, and health problems, the relationship between loneliness and pain was consistent across the lifespan.

Dr. Macchia said, “Our findings show a strong association between loneliness and physical pain, which was to a large degree statistically accounted for by psychological distress, and to a lesser extent by physical health, and socio-economic disadvantage. Importantly, these associations varied in strength across countries, pointing towards the importance of cultural factors.”

The study underscores the global burden of loneliness, with 22.7% of respondents reporting that they felt lonely “a lot” on the day before being surveyed. Lonely individuals were also more likely to report being single, separated, divorced, or widowed, to have lower income and education levels, and to be unemployed or underemployed.

The research highlights how loneliness is not simply a matter of lacking social contact, but is linked with poorer health and reduced well-being more broadly. Despite many lonely individuals reporting that they had friends or relatives to count on, or were satisfied with opportunities to meet people, the association with pain remained significant, suggesting that loneliness can persist even in the presence of social connections.

The findings also revealed considerable differences across countries, suggesting cultural context plays a key role in how loneliness, pain, and distress are experienced and reported. While some of the poorest countries recorded the highest rates of loneliness, pain, and distress, the associations did not neatly follow economic development patterns, pointing instead to the influence of cultural norms, social structures, and expectations.

The authors argue that loneliness needs to be addressed as a multi-faceted global health challenge. Interventions, they suggest, should not only focus on improving social connections but also on tackling psychological distress and socio-economic inequalities.

The paper concludes that loneliness is “potentially painful and multi-faceted,” affecting individuals worldwide, and calls for further cross-cultural and longitudinal research to inform more effective interventions.