Department of Preventive Gerontology, Centre for Gerontology and Social Science, National Centre for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Aichi, Japan.
Psychogeriatrics. 2024 Sep;24(5):1095-1102. doi: 10.1111/psyg.13163. Epub 2024 Jul 16.
Social participation is recommended for older adults to remain actively involved in daily life. Social participation is a broad concept, ranging from 'interacting with others without doing a specific activity with them' to 'actively contributing to society.' However, previous studies have not taken into account the components of social participation. Depressive symptoms are significant outcomes in older adults. Social participation mitigates these risks owing to its association with reduced mortality and enhanced quality of life. This study aimed to examine the association between the level of social participation and depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older adults.
We included 17 040 individuals aged ≥65 years. Social participation was categorised into Level 3, interacting with others without doing a specific activity with them; Level 4, engaging in an activity with others; Level 5, helping others; and Level 6, contributing to society, based on a previous study by Levasseur et al. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale. Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between the level of social participation and depressive symptoms.
Overall, 15 069 older adults met the inclusion criteria. A higher level of social participation was associated with lower odds ratios (ORs) for depressive symptoms (Level 6 = OR: 0.43, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.37-0.50; Level 5 = OR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.41-0.60; and Level 4 = OR: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.52-0.69). Subgroup analyses based on age and sex yielded similar results across all participants.
Among older adults in Japan, a higher level of social participation was associated with lower rates of depressive symptoms. The relationship between depressive symptoms and the levels of social participation may help develop measures to reduce or prevent depressive symptoms in older adults.
社会参与被推荐给老年人，以保持他们积极参与日常生活。社会参与是一个广泛的概念，范围从“与他人互动而不与他们一起进行特定活动”到“积极为社会做贡献”。然而，以前的研究并没有考虑到社会参与的组成部分。抑郁症状是老年人的重要结果。由于与降低死亡率和提高生活质量有关，社会参与减轻了这些风险。本研究旨在探讨社区居住的老年人社会参与水平与抑郁症状之间的关系。
我们纳入了 17040 名年龄≥65 岁的个体。根据 Levasseur 等人的先前研究，社会参与被分为 3 个级别：与他人互动而不与他们一起进行特定活动；与他人一起从事活动；帮助他人；以及为社会做贡献。抑郁症状使用 15 项老年抑郁量表进行评估。使用逻辑回归模型来检验社会参与水平与抑郁症状之间的关系。
总体而言，有 15069 名老年人符合纳入标准。更高水平的社会参与与抑郁症状的较低比值比（OR）相关（级别 6=OR：0.43，95%置信区间（CI）：0.37-0.50；级别 5=OR：0.50，95%CI：0.41-0.60；和级别 4=OR：0.60，95%CI：0.52-0.69）。基于年龄和性别的亚组分析在所有参与者中产生了相似的结果。
在日本的老年人中，更高水平的社会参与与较低的抑郁症状发生率相关。抑郁症状与社会参与水平之间的关系可能有助于制定措施来减少或预防老年人的抑郁症状。
