Study links smoking to higher loneliness among older adults
Research presented at the ERS Congress 2026 found that current smokers report greater loneliness than non-smokers, even after accounting for age and gender.
At the European Respiratory Society Congress 2026 in Barcelona, Dr. Keith Philip of Imperial College London's National Heart and Lung Institute presented findings from a large-scale analysis of the European Health-Aging-Retirement Survey. The study examined over 50,000 respondents from 15 countries, with an average age of 67, of whom 22% were smokers at baseline. Using the UCLA loneliness questionnaire, researchers tracked changes in loneliness over a two-year period and found that current smokers reported significantly higher loneliness than non-smokers.
This relationship remained robust after controlling for age, sex and the presence of multiple chronic conditions. Possible explanations include reduced mobility from smoking-related illnesses and shifting social norms that limit smoking in public and private settings, which may curtail social interactions for smokers.
Why it matters
The findings suggest smoking may harm not only physical health but also social well-being, especially for older adults.
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