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🇰🇷 South Korea /Health & Science

Smoking and Socializing? Smokers May Actually Become More Lonely

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Researchers analyzed data from more than 50,000 participants in 15 countries and examined links between smoking and loneliness.
  • The participants had an average age of 67, and 22% smoked when the study began.
  • The findings challenge the idea that smoking is a social activity and suggest smokers may become more socially isolated over time.

Smoking is often seen as a way to meet people and maintain social contact. A large study presented at the European Respiratory Society’s ERS Congress 2026 in Barcelona points in the opposite direction, suggesting that smoking can increase loneliness over time.

The researchers analyzed data from more than 50,000 people in 15 countries who took part in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Participants had an average age of 67, and 22% were smokers at the start of the study. Nearly half, 48.5%, had two or more chronic illnesses.

Few studies have examined whether smoking causes loneliness.

· Dr. Kheer PhilipHe described the limited research on the relationship between smoking and loneliness.

The team assessed loneliness using the UCLA Loneliness Scale. The scale includes questions about whether people have someone to spend time with, among other measures.

Dr. Kheer Philip of Imperial College London’s National Heart and Lung Institute presented the findings. “Few studies have examined whether smoking causes loneliness,” he said. “Smoking has commonly been regarded as a social activity, but in clinical practice we often see people with smoking-related diseases becoming increasingly socially isolated and lonely.”

Smoking has commonly been regarded as a social activity, but in clinical practice we often see people with smoking-related diseases becoming increasingly socially isolated and lonely.

· Dr. Kheer PhilipHe contrasted the common perception of smoking with observations from medical practice.
About this summary

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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