Loneliness Among Rural Self-Management Education Program Enrollees During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Purpose: Pandemic-related isolation may exacerbate loneliness among rural adults; we sought to characterize loneliness and associated factors among rural adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design: Cross-sectional observational study.

Setting: Remotely delivered self-management education (SME) workshops, rural upstate New York, May-December 2020.

Subjects: Rural SME workshop enrollees, aged 18+, n = 229.

Measures: De Jong Gierveld 6-Item Loneliness Scale, sociodemographics, workshop type (chronic disease, chronic pain, diabetes), delivery mode (videoconference, phone, self-study); data collected via workshop process measures and enrollment surveys.

Analysis: Multivariable linear regression.

Results: Mean overall, emotional and social loneliness scores were 2.78 ( = 1.91), 1.27 ( 1.02), and 1.52 ( 1.26). Being not married/partnered (β = .61) and self-reported depression/anxiety (β = .64) were associated with higher overall scores, and selection of videoconference (β = -.77) and self-study (β =-.85) modes with lower scores. Self-reported depression/anxiety (β = .51) was associated with increased emotional loneliness. Being not married/not partnered (β = .37) and selection of chronic pain workshops (β = .64) was were associated with increased social loneliness. Selection of videoconference (β = -.44) and self-study (β = -.51) delivery modes were protective of social loneliness.

Conclusion: In addition to marital status and depression/anxiety, experiencing chronic pain and selecting phone-based workshops were associated with higher degrees of loneliness among rural adults during the pandemic. The latter may be partly explained by insufficient internet access. Health educators should be prepared to address loneliness in rural areas during the pandemic.