{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T17:56:49Z","timestamp":1777485409275,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,21]],"date-time":"2025-05-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1747785600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Epidemiol."],"abstract":"Background<\/jats:title>Loneliness is a growing public health issue, particularly among older adults, owing to various internal and external factors related to ageing. However; evidence regarding this segment of the Ethiopian population is scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of loneliness and its associated factors among older adults in Ethiopia.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>Methods<\/jats:title>This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 20 to May 20, 2023. A multistage systematic sampling technique, using an interviewer-administered questionnaire, was used. Data were entered into Epi Data version 4.6.0.0 and exported to the Stata version 14 software for analysis. A binary logistic regression analysis was conducted. Variables with a p<\/jats:italic>-value\u2009&lt;\u20090.20 in the Bivariable analysis were entered into multivariable regression and variables with a p<\/jats:italic>-value\u2009&lt;\u20090.05, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) were considered statistically significant.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>Results<\/jats:title>A total of 840 older adults took part with a 99.2% response rate. The overall prevalence of loneliness among older adults was 48.69%, with 95% CI\u2009=\u200945.31\u201352.07%. Living alone (OR=2<\/jats:sans-serif>.59, 95% CI\u2009=\u20091.11\u20136.05), the presence of chronic illness (OR\u2009=\u20091.69, 95% CI\u2009=\u20091.12\u20132.54), sleep time greater than 9\u2005h (OR\u2009=\u20091.56, 95% CI\u2009=\u20091.08\u20132.22), impairment (OR\u2009=\u20095.09, 95% CI\u2009=\u20093.17\u20138.19), and poor social support (OR\u2009=\u20094.38, 95% CI\u2009=\u20092.53\u20137.59) were positively, but family size &lt;5 (OR\u2009=\u20090.62, 95% CI\u2009=\u20090.45\u20130.85) and good health status (OR\u2009=\u20090.43, 95% CI\u2009=\u20090.27\u20130.66) were negatively associated with loneliness among older adults.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>Conclusions<\/jats:title>Nearly half of the participants felt lonely. Hence, every concerned body should pay special attention to this sidelined segment of the population by creating better social support networks, providing a conducive living environment, and providing aid to impaired older adults.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fepid.2025.1545342","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,21]],"date-time":"2025-05-21T05:25:15Z","timestamp":1747805115000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Prevalence of loneliness and associated factors among older adults at Yilmana Densa District, West Gojjam Zone Amhara region, Ethiopia"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Desta","family":"Menewab Birhane","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Negesu Gizaw","family":"Demessie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Abere Woretaw","family":"Azagew","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hailemichael Kindie","family":"Abate","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chilot Kassa","family":"Mekonnen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"829","DOI":"10.1111\/padr.12506","article-title":"Population ageing, demographic metabolism, and the rising tide of late middle age to older adult loneliness around the world","volume":"48","author":"Newmyer","year":"2022","journal-title":"Popul Dev Rev"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"791","DOI":"10.1007\/s11205-020-02450-4","article-title":"Ageing, health, loneliness and wellbeing","volume":"160","author":"Tani","year":"2022","journal-title":"Soc Indic Res"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"557","DOI":"10.1017\/S1041610215001532","article-title":"Correlates and predictors of loneliness in older adults: a review of quantitative results informed by qualitative insights","volume":"28","author":"Cohen-Mansfield","year":"2016","journal-title":"Int Psychogeriatr"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1016\/j.arr.2019.03.002","article-title":"Does loneliness contribute to mild cognitive impairment and dementia? 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