The high levels of loneliness among frail elderly people revealed in a world-first study reflect "increasing fragmentation" in society. Geriatrician and researcher Dr Hamish Jamieson, at the University of Otago’s Christchurch campus, made that comment yesterday. • The ethnic group most likely to be lonely was Asian (23%). • Pacific Islanders were the least lonely group (17%). In this group, 31.7% lived with a spouse or partner only, and 10.9% lived with a child.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 14, 2017 16:06 UTC