Chronic disease and social isolation among Canadians: evidence from the 2022 Mental Health and Access to Care Survey

In Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention, Dorian DiTommaso, Fabio Robibaro, and Nicholas D. Spence examine the connections between diagnostic labels, chronic pain and disability on social isolation in Canada. The researchers find that diagnostic labels alone are not associated with social isolation when functional limitation and pain are taken into account. Importantly, the data also shows that functional limitation is a key predictor of reduced social support, which is associated with increased social isolation.

Fabio Robibaro is a PhD student in the Sociology Department at the University of Toronto and is an RA on the Care Economies in Context Canada team.

Citation

DiTommaso, D., Robibaro, F., & Spence, N. D. (2026). Chronic disease and social isolation among Canadians: evidence from the 2022 Mental Health and Access to Care Survey. Maladie chronique et isolement social chez les Canadiens : données probantes de l’Enquête sur la santé mentale et l’accès aux soins 2022. Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice, 46(6), 237–244. https://doi-org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/10.24095/hpcdp.46.6.03

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic conditions are highly prevalent in Canada and are commonly examined as a single, aggregated exposure in population research on social isolation. Such approaches emphasize overall disease burden but make it difficult to distinguish the independent contributions of diagnostic category, chronic pain and disability. In this study, we examine these dimensions separately to assess how each is associated with social isolation among Canadian adults.

Methods: Using the 2022 Mental Health and Access to Care Survey (n = 9861), the association between chronic conditions, chronic pain, and disability in relation to social support was assessed, using the Social Provisions Scale (SPS-10), applying multivariable linear regression.

Results: More severe disability was negatively associated with social support (B = -0.09, 95% CI = -0.11, -0.08). Those with more functional impairments experienced lower social support which typically indicates greater social isolation.

Conclusion: When examined jointly, functional disability, but not chronic disease category or chronic pain, was independently associated with lower social support. These findings indicate that social isolation among Canadian adults is more closely related to functional limitation than to diagnostic labels, underscoring the importance of function-focused approaches in research and intervention.

Keywords: chronic disease; chronic pain; health policy; people with disabilities; social isolation.