The association of mobility limitation and social networks in relation to late-life activity

Abstract

The current study examines the interaction between mobility limitations and social networks in relation to activity in later life. Although the importance of activity participation to successful ageing has been well established, it is still unclear what contributes to higher levels of activity. This research addresses this issue, using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. The analysis focuses on a sub-sample of respondents aged 60 and older, from 13 countries, who participated in two specific waves, in 2011 and 2013. Multivariate analysis of the longitudinal data was conducted using hierarchical generalised Poisson regression and incorporating a new comprehensive social network scale. The inquiry found that having multiple mobility limitations is associated with less activity and that having a resourceful social network contributes to more activity. The research further revealed that social network is particularly beneficial to those with multiple mobility limitations because it mitigates the negative association with activity. This conclusion furthers the understanding of the relationship between different key dimensions in the successful ageing paradigm. Specifically, the findings imply the significance of having a social network among those who are functionally challenged. This finding has important implications for active ageing policies.

Can the internet reduce the loneliness of 50+ living alone?

“…The scale has higher values for individuals with a larger network, with more people in the network who live up to 25 km away, with more people in the network who they contact weekly or more frequently, with more people in the network considered to be close or very emotionally close, and with more diversified networks, i.e., with a greater variety of relationship types. The scale ranges from 0 to 4 values (Litwin & Levinson, 2018;Litwin & Stoeckel, 2014).…”

Modifiable factors related to life-space mobility in community-dwelling older adults: results from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

“…Modifiable factors were selected using Webber's conceptual framework of life-space mobility [9] and previous research evidence where factors that demonstrated an association with mobility were identified. Factors were categorized in accordance with Webber's framework, including physical [17,18,23], psychosocial [24,25] and cognitive determinants [26], alongside other factors that were highlighted in previous studies, such as pain [27], fatigue [28], driving status [29], nutrition [30,31], body mass index [32], smoking status [33,34] and vision [35].…”

Mobility impact and well-being in later life: A multidisciplinary systematic review

“…In terms of sample size, more than half of the studies has considered samples with at most 1000 participants ( Table 3 ). Interestingly, three recent studies in health sciences are based on more than 20,000 observations, as they rely on large longitudinal datasets such as the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) database ( Litwin et al, 2018 ; Litwin & Levinson, 2018 ) and the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging ( Demnitz et al, 2018 ), containing micro-data on health status of older adults.…”

“… OUTCOME VARIABLES DISCIPLINE MOBILITY MEASURE(s) AUTHOR(s) Community engagement Public Health& Health Services GPS tracking and daily travel diaries (+) Zeitler and Buys (2015) N = 1.8% (1/57) Social engagement LSA ( Baker et al, 2003 ) modified (+) Rosso et al (2013) N = 1.8% (1/57) Social networks Self-reported information - List of 10 difficulties such as getting up from a chair after sitting for long periods, climbing one flight of stairs without resting, and stooping, kneeling, or crouching, etc. (+) Litwin and Levinson (2018) N = 1.8% (1/57) Use of community services SPPB, FSST, gait speed and DeMMI (+) Lester et al (2019) N = 1.8% (1/57) Notes: (−) the elderly with higher mobility levels decrease the probability of developing this outcome variable or show lower levels of it; (+) the elderly with higher mobility levels increase the probability of developing this outcome variable or show higher levels of it; (n) the level of mobility has no effect on the outcome variable; (?) it is not clear the causal relationship between mobility and the outcome variable; (o) the outcome variable is a determinant of mobility.…”