Loneliness among older adults has been identified as a major public health problem. Yet little is known about loneliness, or the potential role of social networks in explaining loneliness, among older people with HIV (PWH) in sub-Saharan Africa, where 70% of PWH reside. To explore this issue, we analyzed data from 599 participants enrolled in the Quality of Life and Ageing with HIV in Rural Uganda study, including older adults with HIV in ambulatory care and a comparator group of people without HIV of similar age and gender. The 3-item UCLA Loneliness Scale was used to measure loneliness, and HIV status was the primary explanatory variable. The study found no statistically significant correlation between loneliness and HIV status. However, individuals with HIV had smaller households, less physical and financial support, and were less socially integrated compared to those without HIV. In multivariable logistic regressions, loneliness was more likely among individuals who lived alone (aOR:3.38, 95% CI:1.47–7.76) and less likely among those who were married (aOR:0.34, 95% CI:0.22–0.53) and had a higher level of social integration (aOR:0.86, 95% CI: 0.79–0.92). Despite having smaller social networks and less support, older adults with HIV had similar levels of loneliness as those without HIV, which may be attributed to resiliency and access to HIV-related health services among individuals with HIV. Nonetheless, further research is necessary to better understand the mechanisms involved.

老年人的孤独感已被确定为一个主要的公共卫生问题。然而，对于撒哈拉以南非洲地区艾滋病毒感染者 (PWH) 老年人 (PWH) 的孤独感或社交网络在解释孤独感方面的潜在作用知之甚少，该地区 70% 的艾滋病毒感染者居住在该地区。为了探讨这个问题，我们分析了参与乌干达农村地区艾滋病毒感染者生活质量和老龄化研究的 599 名参与者的数据，其中包括流动护理中感染艾滋病毒的老年人和年龄和性别相似的未感染艾滋病毒的对照人群。加州大学洛杉矶分校孤独感量表的三项用于测量孤独感，艾滋病毒状况是主要解释变量。研究发现孤独感和艾滋病毒感染状况之间没有统计学上的显着相关性。然而，与未感染艾滋病毒的人相比，艾滋病毒感染者的家庭规模较小，物质和经济支持较少，并且融入社会的程度较低。在多变量逻辑回归中，独居者更容易感到孤独（aOR：3.38，95％CI：1.47-7.76），而已婚者（aOR：0.34，95％CI：0.22-0.53）和有伴侣的人则不太可能感到孤独。更高水平的社会融合（aOR：0.86，95% CI：0.79–0.92）。尽管社交网络较小，支持较少，但感染艾滋病毒的老年人与未感染艾滋病毒的老年人相比，其孤独程度相似，这可能归因于艾滋病毒感染者的适应能力和获得艾滋病毒相关卫生服务的机会。尽管如此，还需要进一步研究以更好地理解所涉及的机制。