About ]h of the nearly 30 million noninstitutionalized elderly persons in the USA live alone. The very old are most likely to live alone; almost half of those > 85 yr old do so. Of the elderly living alone, 78% are women. Married men are more likely to die before their wives, and widowed and divorced men are more likely to remarry than are widowed and divorced women.
Elderly persons living alone represent one of the most vulnerable and impoverished segments of American society. Because living alone complicates the aging experience and presents a particular array of challenges and problems, physicians who provide medical care to these elderly persons need to recognize and be sensitive to their nonmedical needs.