For how many days and what types of group activities should older Japanese adults be involved in to maintain health? A 4-year longitudinal study

Abstract

ObjectiveStudies have suggested that frequent participation in social groups contributes to the well-being of older people. The primary aim of this study was to identify the number of days older adults should participate in the activities of social groups to maintain their health for 4 years. This study also aimed to examine whether the effective frequency differs by the type of social group activity.MethodWe examined a prospective cohort of 1,320 community-dwelling older adults over 65 years of age, who responded to both a baseline and a follow-up mail survey, in a suburban city of Tokyo, Japan. The dependent variable was the change in functional competence during 4 years. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the effects of participation in the activities of the 5 most common social groups among older Japanese on maintaining functional competence.ResultsNine hundred and ninety-four participants (76.5%) maintained their functional competence for 4 years. The results of the logistic regression analyses showed that participating in alumni groups less than once a month and being an inactive member were associated with higher odds of maintaining functional competence, after controlling for socioeconomic, demographic and baseline health status. Additionally, the odds of maintaining functional competence for 4 years increased upon participating in volunteer groups once a month or more. These results were also confirmed using logistic regression analysis, even after adjustment for the effects of participation in other social groups.DiscussionThe results indicated the effectiveness of volunteer activities that fulfill a social role in maintaining health. Therefore, older adults should be encouraged to participate in activities of volunteer groups at least once a month. Additionally, older adults can obtain positive health outcomes through less frequent participation in alumni groups, compared with the activities of volunteer groups.

Social Participation and Functional Decline: A Comparative Study of Rural and Urban Older People, Using Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study Longitudinal Data

“…The analysis of the number of organizations revealed the HRs of the number of types of organizations progressively decreased as the number of participating organizations. This supports previous studies, including those measuring other health outcomes [10,13,[16][17][18]. In this study, HRs were lower when participated in two or more types of organizations in rural areas than in urban areas.…”

“…In many longitudinal studies, social participation has been reported as effective for health outcomes such as functional disability [9][10][11][12][13], cognitive disability [14][15][16], instrumental activities of daily living decline [17][18][19], and basic activities of daily living decline [20]. Among them, some studies focused on the number and types of organizations in which older people participated [10,13,[16][17][18]. These studies suggested that older people who participate in more organizations are healthier than those who do not participate, and that the relationships between social participation and health varied according to the types of organization they participate in.…”

“…However, these studies [10,13,[16][17][18] do not consider two issues. First, these studies do not consider "work" as a kind of social participation.…”

Factors that promote new or continuous participation in social group activity among Japanese community‐dwelling older adults: A 2‐year longitudinal study

“…Previous studies have reported that social participation decreases stress levels . In addition, social participation might prevent dementia onset and functional decline; and social participation greatly improves quality of life in older people …”

“…Previous studies have reported that social participation decreases stress levels. 1 In addition, social participation might prevent dementia onset and functional decline; [2][3][4] and social participation greatly improves quality of life in older people. 5 According to a Japanese national survey, a substantial number of individuals who are currently non-participants in social groups are willing to engage in social groups.…”