Social Participation and the Prevention of Functional Disability in Older Japanese: The JAGES Cohort Study

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 9; no. 6; p. e99638
• Main Authors: Kanamori, Satoru, Kai, Yuko, Aida, Jun, Kondo, Katsunori, Kawachi, Ichiro, Hirai, Hiroshi, Shirai, Kokoro, Ishikawa, Yoshiki, Suzuki, Kayo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 12.06.2014; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Analysis; Asian People - psychology; Asian People - statistics & numerical data; Behavior; Biology and Life Sciences; Cohort analysis; Cohort Studies; Community; Community involvement; Community organizations; Community participation; Dementia; Disabled Persons - statistics & numerical data; Epidemiology; Female; Geriatric Assessment; Gerontology; Health risk assessment; Health Services for the Aged - organization & administration; Hobbies - psychology; Hobbies - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Incidence; Japan - epidemiology; Long term health care; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mortality; Older people; Oral hygiene; Organizations; Participation; Population; Prevention; Preventive medicine; Primary Prevention - methods; Primary Prevention - organization & administration; Public health; Research and Analysis Methods; Residence Characteristics - statistics & numerical data; Risk reduction; Science; Social Participation - psychology; Social Sciences; Society; Sports - physiology; Sports - psychology; Sports associations; Studies; Systematic review; Japan
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099638

We examined the relationship between incident functional disability and social participation from the perspective of number of types of organizations participated in and type of social participation in a prospective cohort study. The study was based on the Aichi Gerontological Evaluation Study (AGES) Cohort Study data. We followed 13,310 individuals aged 65 years or older for 4 years. Analysis was carried out on 12,951 subjects, excluding 359 people whose information on age or sex was missing. Social participation was categorized into 8 types. Compared to those that did not participate in any organizations, the hazard ratio (HR) was 0.83 (95% CI: 0.73-0.95) for participation in one, 0.72 (0.61-0.85) for participation in two, and 0.57 (0.46-0.70) for participation in three or more different types of organizations. In multivariable adjusted models, participation in the following types of organization was protective for incident disability: local community organizations (HR = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.76-0.96), hobby organizations (HR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.64-0.87), and sports organizations (HR = 0.64, 95% CI: 0.54-0.81). Social participation may decrease the risk of incident functional disability in older people in Japan. This effect may be strengthened by participation in a variety of different types of organizations. Participating in a local community, hobby, or sports group or organization may be especially effective for decreasing the risk of disability.