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# Living alone and mortality in older Koreans: link lost after socioeconomic weighting
- URL: https://www.coios.me/living-alone-and-mortality-in-older-koreans-link-lost-after/
- Published: 2026-10-31T11:14:51.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-01T07:06:41.000Z
- Description: Among 3,771 older Koreans, living alone was linked to higher mortality, but not after weighting for income, education and area.
- Author: Daniel Ryan
- Tags: Behavioural science, Social connection, South Korea, #peer-reviewed, #refines, #item, #source-2026-10, #score-70

The study followed 3,771 adults aged 60 or over, 435 always living alone, in the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging. In Cox models adjusted for demographics and behaviour, living alone had hazard ratios 1.49 all-cause, 1.81 cancer, 1.92 cardio-cerebrovascular. With inverse probability weighting that added income, education and area, none remained significant (all-cause 0.95). In weighted subgroups, living alone was linked to higher all-cause mortality among low-income adults (HR 1.33). It was also linked to cardio-cerebrovascular death among those with no close-friend contact in the past year (HR 3.41). Deaths were confirmed through family death certificates and interviews, so isolated adults without family may be under-counted.

*Why it is interesting: It tests whether living alone predicts death once socioeconomic factors are balanced, and the overall association does not hold. Elevated weighted estimates appear only in subgroups, notably low-income adults and those without close-friend contact in the past year.*

Source

[BMC Geriatrics, 30 October 2026](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-026-07946-1?ref=coios.me)

Paper

Living alone, socioeconomic status, and mortality among older adults: a population-based cohort study

Authors

Kim KH, Jung D, Lee SY, Yoo SH, Hwang IY, Cho W et al.

DOI

10.1186/s12877-026-07946-1

Full text

[Open copy](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13721356/?ref=coios.me) (open-access copy, PubMed Central)

Type

Peer-reviewed article

Design

Population-based cohort, KLoSA, 3,771 adults aged 60+, enrolled 2006, followed to death or 31 Dec 2020; Cox models with inverse probability of treatment weighting

Verdict

Refines prior evidence

Driver

[Social connection](https://www.coios.me/d-social-connection/)

Free full text

[Free to read at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-026-07946-1?ref=coios.me)