Dataset Information

Social network characteristics as correlates and moderators of older adults' quality of life-the SHARE study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The quality of life (QoL) of older adults is a key aspect of healthy ageing, and older adults' socioeconomic status (SES), the neighbourhood they live in and their social networks (SN) are known to impact QoL. However, little is known about the interaction between these concepts. The aim was to examine how SN, SES and neighbourhood type are associated with QoL in older adults.

Methods

: Wave 4 (year 2011) and wave 6 (year 2015) data from the longitudinal Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe were used for the analysis. Multilevel regression models estimated the associations including 34 792 participants from wave 4 and 67 334 participants from wave 6 from 16 countries (mean age = 66.45 years). The outcome variable was QoL, independent variables were SES (education and making end meet) and neighbourhood type (housing type and housing area), and SN variables (satisfaction and size) were the moderators.

Results

: SES and SN variables were positively associated with QoL. Living in a house or duplex was positively associated with QoL compared with living in a farmhouse. SN moderated the association between education and QoL. The effect of area type on QoL was moderated by SN size. SN satisfaction was an independent correlate of QoL.

Conclusion

: Older adults' satisfaction with their SN may be more important than having a large SN. Low SES older adults may be more prone to having weak SN. Maintaining and creating supportive SN may attenuate the negative effects of low SES or less favourable neighbourhood characteristics.

SUBMITTER: Schmidt T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8530164 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BACKGROUND:There is limited knowledge on the mediating role of different health risk behavior on the relationship between social capital, socioeconomic status (SES), and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Chinese older adults. We conducted this study to (a) investigate the condition of health risk behaviors of the Chinese elderly, and (b) assess the relationship between SES, social capital, health risk behaviors, and HRQoL. METHODS:A sample of 4868 adults aged 60?years and older were included in this study, from the China's Health-related Quality of Life Survey for Older Adults 2018. Participants' demographic characteristics, SES (education level, family income), health risk behaviors (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary behavior, unhealthy weight, and sleep disorder) were collected. Social capital and HRQoL were assessed by the 16-item Personal Social Capital Scale (PSCS-16) and WHOQOL-Old, respectively. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to examine the associations between variables. RESULTS:The proportion of smoking, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary behavior, unhealthy weight, and sleep disorder were 32.1, 36.3, 62.5, 45.7, 31.8, and 45.5%, respectively. Significant differences were observed in education level, family income, and social capital between elderly individuals with and without each of the six health risk behavior (all p-values <?0.05). Elderly individuals who reported smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary behavior, and sleep disorder had significantly lower HRQoL than those without these unhealthy behaviors (all p-values <?0.05). SEM analysis showed that SES and social capital positively associated with alcohol consumption. Social capital negatively associated with smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary behavior, and sleep disorder. SES negatively associated with smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary behavior, unhealthy weight, and sleep disorder. Smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary behavior, and sleep disorder correlated with poorer HRQoL. CONCLUSIONS:Chinese older adults demonstrated a high incidence of health risk behaviors, especially for physical inactivity (62.5%) and unhealthy dietary behavior (45.7%). Social capital and SES were correlated with the elderly's HRQoL, as well as with the health risk behaviors. Health risk behaviors played potential mediating role on the relationship between social capital, SES, and HRQoL in Chinese older adults.