Impact of social capital on 8-year mortality among older people in 34 Danish municipalities.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the impact of social capital measures (bonding, bridging, and linking) on all-cause mortality at 8-year follow-up among older people aged 75 and 80 at baseline.

METHOD

Prospective cohort study on preventive home visits including 2,863 seventy-five-year-olds and 1,171 eighty-year-olds in 34 Danish municipalities. The associations of the three aspects of social capital measures with mortality were tested in Cox regression models on time to death.

RESULTS

In the 80-year-old cohort significant associations were seen between mortality and both bridging (hazards ratio (HR)=1.24, 95% CI [1.07, 1.45]) and linking (HR=1.21, 95% CI [1.03, 1.43]), but the associations attenuated when controlling for relevant confounders. None of the social capital measures were associated with mortality among the 75-year-olds.

CONCLUSION

The measures of social capital used in the present study include key aspects of social capital that are associated to mortality in older populations via physical activity and mobility disability.