Ezzatvar, YasminCaballero, ÓscarDuclos-Bastías, DanielYáñez-Sepúlveda, RodrigoGarcía Hermoso, Antonio2025-06-232025-06-232025-05-01Ezzatvar, Y., Caballero, Ó., Duclos-Bastias, D., Yáñez-Sepúlveda, R., García-Hermoso, A. (2025) Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for type 2 diabetes onset: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 223, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diabres.2025.112124.0168-822710.1016/j.diabres.2025.112124https://academica-e.unavarra.es/handle/2454/54294Aims: This study sought to analyze the association of social isolation and loneliness with the risk of type 2 diabetes onset. Methods: Two authors systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases for studies published until February 2025, assessing the risk of incidence of type 2 diabetes in individuals who are socially isolated or lonely. To quantify the risk of incident diabetes, hazard ratios (HR) for loneliness and social isolation were pooled using a random-effects inverse-variance model with empirical Bayes estimation. Results: Nine prospective cohort studies were included, comprising 1,112,887 individuals (60.5 % female, mean age = 57.1 years), with 50,961 new cases of type 2 diabetes over a mean follow-up of 10.7 years. Loneliness was associated with a 32% increased risk of type 2 diabetes (HR = 1.32 [95 % confidence interval [CI]:1.11–1.57]). Social isolation was linked to a 20% higher risk (HR = 1.20 [95 %CI:1.01–1.43]). The included studies showed fair-to-good methodological quality (mean score: 10.11/14) based on the Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies. Conclusions: Social isolation and loneliness are significant risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Addressing social connectedness could be a valuable strategy for diabetes prevention, emphasizing the need to incorporate psychosocial factors into public health initiatives.application/pdfapplication/mswordeng© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license.Type 2 diabetesLonelinessSocial supportSocial isolationinfo:eu-repo/semantics/article2025-06-23info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess