Exploring the association of poor social support and loneliness with cardiovascular history among lebanese residents: insights into myocardial infarction and stroke: a cross-sectional approach

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), including myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke, remain among the most prevalent causes of global morbidity and mortality. Evidence suggests that psychosocial variables, especially loneliness and social support, play an important role in cardiovascular health. However, this relationship has not been studied in Lebanon. This study aims to assess the association of insufficient social support and loneliness with cardiovascular history specifically, history of MI and stroke. A cross-sectional study that involved a self-administered questionnaire from community participants. Data were collected from people aged 50 and above with a mean age of 60.15 (SD = 9.8) years. Data collection forms included sociodemographic characteristics, Charlson’s comorbidity index including cardiovascular history, The Medical Outcome Study Social Support Survey including its five domains and the Arabic translated version of the University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale. Out of the sample of 499 participants, the analysis showed that 89.6% of participants experienced high levels of loneliness, and poor levels of social support across all of the five domains of the scale. History of cardiovascular events was significantly associated with age (p < 0.001), gender (0.026), employment (p < 0.001) and marital status (p = 0.039) in addition to the living region. History of cardiovascular events was also associated with social (p < 0.001) and medical history (p < 0.001) of the participants. Loneliness was found to be significantly associated with acute cardiovascular history in the multivariate analysis (OR: 1.051, 95% CI: 1.021, 1.081, p = 0.001). Loneliness and low social support are strongly associated with poor cardiovascular outcomes, highlighting the need to address psychosocial factors in heart health care. The association between loneliness and poor social support with cardiovascular health have been understudied in comparison to the lifestyle practices and physiological risk factors. Low to moderate levels of social support and loneliness were identified in a society with collectivist culture. Increasing age, male gender, higher perceived scores of tangible support and higher loneliness scores was significantly associated with worse cardiovascular health.