Population based study of social and productive activities as predictors of survival among elderly Americans
- 21 August 1999
- Vol. 319 (7208), 478-483
- https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.319.7208.478
Abstract
Objectives: To examine any association between social, productive, and physical activity and 13 year survival in older people. Design: Prospective cohort study with annual mortality follow up. Activity and other measures were assessed by structured interviews at baseline in the participants' homes Proportional hazards models were used to model survival from time of initial interview. Setting: City of New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Participants: 2761 men and women from a random population sample of 2812 people aged 65 and older. Main outcome measure: Mortality from all causes during 13 years of follow up. Results: All three types of activity were independently associated with survival after age, sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, income, body mass index, smoking, functional disability, and history of cancer, diabetes, stroke, and myocardial infarction were controlled for. Conclusions: Social and productive activities that involve little or no enhancement of fitness lower the risk of all cause mortality as much as fitness activities do. This suggests that in addition to increased cardiopulmonary fitness, activity may confer survival benefits through psychosocial pathways. Social and productive activities that require less physical exertion may complement exercise programmes and may constitute alternative interventions for frail elderly people. Little is known about predictors of survival among elderly people Physical activity is clearly good for health, but the potential benefits of social activities have not been studied Social and productive activities are as effective as fitness activities in lowering the risk of death Enhanced social activities may help to increase the quality and length of lifeKeywords
This publication has 34 references indexed in Scilit:
- The New GerontologyScience, 1997
- Innovative strategies using SUDAAN for analysis of health surveys with complex samplesStatistical Methods in Medical Research, 1996
- Self-efficacy, Physical Decline, and Change in Functioning in Community-Living Elders: A Prospective StudyThe Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 1996
- Childhood social circumstances and psychosocial and behavioural factors as determinants of plasma fibrinogenThe Lancet, 1996
- Activity Participation and Well-being Among Older People With ArthritisThe Gerontologist, 1995
- Moderate and Vigorous Leisure-Time Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in West Germany, 1984–1991International Journal of Epidemiology, 1994
- Social network and activities in relation to mortality from cardiovascular diseases, cancer and other causes: a 12 year follow up of the study of men born in 1913 and 1923.Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 1992
- Social influences and cardiovascular risk factors as determinants of plasma fibrinogen concentration in a general population sample of middle aged men.BMJ, 1990
- Physical activity and physical demand on the job and risk of cardiovascular disease and death: The Framingham StudyAmerican Heart Journal, 1986
- Physical Activity, All-Cause Mortality, and Longevity of College AlumniNew England Journal of Medicine, 1986