The relationships between social participation before the COVID-19 pandemic and preventive and health-promoting behaviors during the pandemic: the JAGES 2019–2020 longitudinal study

Abstract

Background: People's preventive behavior is crucial for reducing the infection and transmission of a novel coronavirus, especially in aging societies. Moreover, since behavioral restrictions may lead to high risks of secondary health impacts among older people, healthpromoting behaviors, including proper nutrition intake and regular exercise, should also be encouraged. Although various studies have reported the positive association between social participation and health among older people, whether their social participation relates to preventive and health-promoting behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic was uncertain. This study examined the relationships between social participation before the COVID-19 pandemic and preventive and health-promoting behaviors during the pandemic among older people in Japan. Methods: We obtained longitudinal data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES), which conducted baseline and follow-up surveys from November 2019 to January 2020 (pre-pandemic) and from November 2020 to February 2021 (during the pandemic) in ten municipalities. In total, 10,523 responses were analyzed. Preventive and health-promoting behaviors were measured by nine actions (e.g., wash/disinfect hands, wear masks, do exercise), and the total of these actions was divided into two (highly implemented ²7 or not highly implemented <7). Social participation was assessed by nine activities (e.g., participating in volunteering, sports clubs, had paid work). Adjusted for covariates, we examined the relationships between each social participation and preventive and health-promoting behavior by the logistic regression analysis or the Poisson regression analysis. Results: Older people who participated in social activities pre-pandemic showed a tendency to implement preventive and healthpromoting behaviors during the pandemic. Especially, participations in "sports" and "Kayoi-no-ba" were positively related to "do exercise." Only "had paid work" was negatively related to highly implemented preventive and health-promoting behaviors. Conclusions: There were the positive relationships between social participation and preventive and health-promoting behavior. This study also indicated that older people who did not participate in social activities or had paid work before the COVID-19 pandemic may have higher risks of infection and secondary health impacts. Taking into account such old people's lifestyles as well as their workplace conditions, promoting appropriate behaviors need to be considered.

Comparison of the inward leakage rate between N95 filtering facepiece respirators and modified surgical masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Due to shortage of surgical masks, items such as kitchen paper, buffs, and gauze masks without guaranteed filter protection have also been used for airborne infection control [13,14]. Even when the supplies of surgical masks and N95 FFRs returned to normal, modifications of the maskwearing method to maximize overall mask performance were attempted, such as improving the efficiency of the filter or creating an adequate fit for the face [9,13,[15][16][17].…”

Association between the Decrease in Medical Visit Frequency and Chronic Disease Worsening in the Early Stages of COVID-19 - A Longitudinal Study -

“…Being unemployed during the COVID-19 pandemic may have led to fewer social connections. Social participation has been reported to be associated with a tendency to implement preventive and healthpromoting behaviors during the pandemic (23). If social connections are not fully working, they may exacerbate physical diseases, as well as mental health.…”