Department of Sociology, Florida State University, Tallahassee.
Department of Sociology, Georgia State University, Atlanta.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2018 Mar 2;73(3):511-521. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbx102.
To describe the association between initiating volunteering and changes in physical disability in older adults, and whether intensity and gender modify this relationship.
Employing propensity score weighted regression adjustment, we calculate changes in disability using a sample of U.S. adults (n = 7,135) in the Health and Retirement Study (1996-2012) not volunteering at baseline but later initiating volunteering (1-99 hr/year or 100+ hours per year) or remaining a nonvolunteer.
Relative to continuous nonvolunteers, low-intensity volunteering is related to 34% lower disability in the low-intensity group (average treatment effect [ATE] = -0.12) and 63% lower in the higher-intensity group (ATE = -0.23). For men, progression was lower only in the highest intensity group (ATE = +0.02), but women experienced similarly less progression of disability (38%-39%) at either level of new engagement (ATE = -0.17 and -0.18).
Initiating a new volunteer role in later life is related to decreased progression of disability, at low or high levels for women and only at higher levels for men. This study suggests that volunteer intervention programs may represent a major public health strategy to delay the progression of physical disability for older adults.
描述老年人中志愿服务的开始与身体残疾变化之间的关系，并探讨强度和性别是否会改变这种关系。
我们采用倾向评分加权回归调整方法，利用美国成年人健康与退休研究（1996-2012 年）的样本（n=7135），计算了未在基线时参与志愿服务但后来开始参与（每年 1-99 小时或每年 100 小时以上）或持续不参与的人群的残疾变化。
与持续不参与相比，低强度志愿服务与低强度组残疾程度降低 34%（平均处理效应[ATE]=-0.12）和高强度组残疾程度降低 63%（ATE=-0.23）相关。对于男性，仅在最高强度组中进展较低（ATE=+0.02），但女性在新参与的任何水平上残疾进展同样较低（38%-39%）（ATE=-0.17 和-0.18）。
在晚年开始新的志愿角色与残疾进展减缓有关，无论对于女性还是男性，低强度或高强度的志愿服务都有此效果。这项研究表明，志愿干预计划可能是延缓老年人身体残疾进展的主要公共卫生策略。
