Loneliness is common in dementia caregivers as cognitive impairment (CI) alters marital and social relationships. Unexplored is how an individual’s loneliness is affected at earlier, more ambiguous, periods of their spouse’s CI. Using the Health and Retirement Study, our study participants included 2,206 coupled individuals with normal cognitive function at the 2006/8 baseline. Loneliness outcomes at baseline, 4-year, and 8-year follow-up are assessed by the status of transition to cognitive impairment no dementia (TCIND) (2010/12 & 2014/16) using linear mixed models. Individual’s loneliness was stable when their spouse’s cognition remained normal, but increased with the spouse’s TCIND. The increase in loneliness did not vary by gender. Loneliness, a key risk factor for reduced life quality and increased depression, increases even at early stages of a partner’s CIND. This work suggests the potential impact of early intervention and social support for partners of individuals with CIND.

孤独感在痴呆症护理人员中很常见，因为认知障碍 (CI) 会改变婚姻和社会关系。未探索的是个人的孤独感如何在其配偶的 CI 更早、更模糊的时期受到影响。使用健康和退休研究，我们的研究参与者包括 2,206 名在 2006/8 基线时认知功能正常的夫妇。使用线性混合模型通过向认知障碍无痴呆 (TCIND) (2010/12 和 2014/16) 过渡的状态评估基线、4 年和 8 年随访的孤独感结果。当配偶的认知保持正常时个体的孤独感是稳定的，但随着配偶的TCIND而增加。孤独感的增加并没有因性别而异。孤独感是降低生活质量和增加抑郁症的关键风险因素，即使在合作伙伴 CIND 的早期阶段也会增加。这项工作表明了早期干预和社会支持对 CIND 患者伴侣的潜在影响。