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Social Isolation and Aging in Schizophrenia

The Impact of Social Isolation on Aging Health in Schizophrenia

Who can join

As published by the study on ClinicalTrials.gov. "Not stated" means the study hasn't said — ask the study team.

Age
40 Years to 70 Years
Sex
All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Compensation
Not stated

Other requirements are listed under Eligibility below. Only the study team can confirm whether you can join.

What to expect

No one can promise a trial will help you personally — that is what the research is trying to find out.

What participation involves

Not stated in the study description — ask the study team about visits and procedures.

Compensation
Not stated
  • Study-related exams and procedures are typically provided at no cost. This is how many trials work in general — confirm the details for this study with the study team.
  • Participants are monitored closely by the research team throughout the study.
  • Some participants may receive access to an investigational treatment, which is still being studied.
  • Your participation helps researchers learn whether this approach could help future patients.

About this study

In plain language

This study looks at whether having little social contact is linked to physical health problems as people with schizophrenia or related disorders age. It is for adults ages 40–70 with these disorders and their siblings without them who took part in earlier research. It also looks at how COVID-19 and lockdowns may have affected health.

Individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders (SZ) exhibit a markedly elevated risk of premature mortality, with a 10-20-year shorter lifespan relative to the general population. Increased mortality rates in SZ are largely attributable to the early manifestation of medical conditions that normally occur later in life, a process known as 'accelerated aging'. While unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, such as smoking and unhealthy diet, account, in part, for accelerated aging in SZ, the excess of physical comorbidities cannot be solely attributed to these factors. Remarkably, the direct adverse health effects of key clinical characteristics of SZ have rarely been considered. In the general population, the absence of social contact is known to pose enormous challenges for physical health, especially at older ages. Given that social isolation is a persistent and disabling feature of SZ, it is possible that this behavior may contribute to the premature manifestation of health conditions in SZ. Building on rich pilot data pointing to significant associations between social isolation and long-term perceived health in SZ, the overarching goal is to test whether and how social isolation contributes to the health challenges of individuals with SZ as they age. With participants from Europe (EU-GEI) and the US (Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center), the researchers will create a longitudinal database of 650 participants, including 500 individuals with SZ, and 150 of their unaffected siblings. The researchers will apply an accelerated longitudinal design by reassessing and by examining medical records of research participants who were first evaluated between the ages of 20-55 and are now 40-70 years of age, a period when many medical conditions and health problems tend to manifest. The researchers will determine the age-related association between social isolation and adverse health outcomes in SZ, test for familiality, directionality, and factors moderating this association, and determine the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting imposed lockdowns impacted health in SZ. The researchers will consider generalizability across countries, sexes, and race/ethnicities. The rationale for the proposed research is that in order to facilitate much-needed targeted therapies to prevent early mortality in SZ, the researchers need to better understand factors that contribute to the excess of medical comorbidities in SZ. The central hypothesis is that social isolation, a common and persistent characteristic of SZ, contributes to the excess of physical comorbidities in SZ. To meet the overall goal, the following aims are: (1) Determine the association between social isolation and adverse health outcomes in SZ; (2) Test for the directionality, and moderating factors, of the association between social isolation and health outcomes in SZ, and; (3) Examine whether the COVID-19 pandemic modified associations between social isolation and health outcome in SZ. This study will be the first to comprehensively examine the health impact of social isolation in SZ. The project may show that in SZ socialization in midlife can reduce the risk for poor health outcomes and ultimately facilitate much-needed preventive targeted therapies to reduce early-age mortality in SZ

Compensation is read from the study's own description and may be missing — always confirm with the study team.

Eligibility

Who can join

  • Be 40–70 years old when joining the study.
  • Have joined an earlier research study at ages 20–55, at least 5 years ago.
  • Understand the country's spoken language well enough to follow the study tests.
  • For the schizophrenia group: have schizophrenia or a related disorder, confirmed through a clinical interview.
  • For the sibling group: be a sibling without schizophrenia or a related disorder.

Who can't join

  • For the schizophrenia group: a disorder with symptoms such as seeing or hearing things that is caused only by substance use.
  • For the sibling group: any past mental health or personality condition known to affect how you interact with others, such as a severe mood disorder or autism.
  • A history of serious head injury, such as being unconscious for more than 1 hour.
  • Medical records showing an IQ below 70 or a developmental disability.
  • A hospital stay as an inpatient in the past 3 months.
  • Any medication changes in the past 4 weeks.

Simplified for readability. The official criteria below are what the study team uses.

Official eligibility criteria

Inclusion and exclusion criteria for participants with SZ: * DSM-IV or V diagnosis of a SZ related disorder (295.x, 297.1, 298.8, or 298.9; e.g., schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, schizophreniform disorder, but not psychotic disorder that is solely substance induced) based on clinical interview; * Between 40 and 70 years of age at time of study recruitment; * Participant was enrolled in a previous research study between the ages of 20-55, and this study took place at least 5 years ago; * Able to understand the spoken language of the participating country sufficiently to comprehend testing procedures; * No history of serious head injury (i.e., loss of consciousness longer than 1 hour, no neuropsychological sequelae, no cognitive rehabilitation treatment post head injury); * No history of IQ \< 70, or developmental disability based on chart review; * Clinically stable (i.e., no inpatient hospitalizations for three months prior to enrollment, no changes in medication in the four weeks prior to enrollment; The inclusion and exclusion criteria for sibling participants in this study will be: * No history of any DSM IV/V Axis I or axis II diagnosis that is known to be associated with social functioning (e.g. severe mood disorder, schizoaffective personality disorder, autism spectrum disorder); * Between 40 and 70 years of age at time of study recruitment;; * Participant was enrolled in a previous research study between the ages of 20-55, and this study took place at least 5 years ago; * Able to understand the spoken language of the participating country sufficiently to comprehend testing procedures; * No history of serious head injury (i.e., loss of consciousness longer than 1 hour, no neuropsychological sequelae, no cognitive rehabilitation treatment post head injury); * No history of IQ \< 70, or developmental disability based on chart review; * Clinically stable (i.e., no inpatient hospitalizations for three months prior to enrollment, no changes in medication in the four weeks prior to enrollment

Study sites (1)

CT