There is a growing consensus regarding the influence of various psychosocial factors such as degree of social participation on health and disease outcomes, quality of life, and general well-being. Older individuals with diminished motor and physical functionality suffer a heightened risk of social exclusion and loneliness. Previous studies have demonstrated the association between social exclusion and loneliness with mental health among the older population. In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether or not difficulty in social participation has any relationship with perceived depression among older individuals in South Africa. We collected cross-sectional data from the SAGE Well-Being of Older People Study 2010 on 422 men and women aged 50 years and above. Perceived depression and loss of interest in things (eg, personal relationships, hobbies) during the last 12 months were used as outcome variables with difficulty in joining community activities, relationships/community participation, friendships, and visiting family/friends as the main explanatory variables. Findings indicated that the prevalence of self-reported depression and the feeling of reduced interest in most things were respectively 51.9% and 43.8%. In the multivariate analysis, those who reported difficulty in joining community activities had respectively 64% (OR =1.639; 95% CI =1.081–2.583) and 69% (OR =1.685; 95% CI) higher odds of depression and loss of interest in things compared with those who did not report any difficulty. The study concludes that addressing the barriers to engaging in community activities may help minimize burden of depression among the elderly population in South Africa. Furthermore, large-scale studies are warranted to explore the social and structural barriers which constrain community participation among the elderly population.

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OBJECTIVETo examine the association between cesarean section and neonatal mortality Nigeria.METHODA retrospective analysis using Nigeria Demographic Health Survey 2013 national population-based cross-sectional survey. The national prevalence of cesarean section was calculated, and logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of neonatal mortality outcome following cesarean delivery.RESULTSThe national cesarean section rate for the 2009–2013 period was 2.1% among 31,495 deliveries. The odds of having a neonatal death was twice as high in cesarean deliveries in comparison to noncesarean deliveries (aOR = 2.56, 95% CI 1.75 to 3.74).CONCLUSIONCesarean section increases the odds of neonatal mortality in Nigeria. There is a need to scale up the quality and timeliness of emergency obstetric services offered to pregnant women.