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Objectives@#This study investigated the effect of cognitive impairment on the association between social network properties and mortality among older Korean adults. @*Methods@#This study used data from the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. It obtained 814 older adults’ complete network maps across an entire village in 2011-2012. Participants’ deaths until December 31, 2020 were confirmed by cause-of-death statistics. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess the risks of poor social network properties (low degree centrality, perceived loneliness, social non-participation, group-level segregation, and lack of support) on mortality according to cognitive impairment. @*Results@#In total, 675 participants (5510.4 person-years) were analyzed, excluding those with missing data and those whose deaths could not be verified. Along with cognitive impairment, all social network properties except loneliness were independently associated with mortality. When stratified by cognitive function, some variables indicating poor social relations had higher risks among older adults with cognitive impairment, with adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of 2.12 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.34 to 3.35) for social nonparticipation, 1.58 (95% CI, 0.94 to 2.65) for group-level segregation, and 3.44 (95% CI, 1.55 to 7.60) for lack of support. On the contrary, these effects were not observed among those with normal cognition, with adjusted HRs of 0.73 (95% CI, 0.31 to 1.71), 0.96 (95% CI, 0.42 to 2.21), and 0.95 (95% CI, 0.23 to 3.96), respectively. @*Conclusions@#The effect of social network properties was more critical among the elderly with cognitive impairment. Older adults with poor cognitive function are particularly encouraged to participate in social activities to reduce the risk of mortality.
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Objectives@#With the surge in the elderly population, a growing interest in the prevention and treatment of geriatric diseases has been observed, along with awareness of the severity of problems associated with dementia, a cognitive impairment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between chewing ability and cognitive function among elderly people residing in a rural area. @*Methods@#A total of 162 elderly individuals, aged between 65 and 97 years, were surveyed. Trained examiners conducted interviews and assessments of chewing ability, on the basis of the number of remaining teeth, denture status, masticatory performance evaluating gum, ShadeEye-NCC measuring overall change in color of the gum (ΔE), and T-Scan® III analyzing distribution of occlusion patterns. Cognitive function was assessed using the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination-Dementia Screening (MMSE-DS) tool. @*Results@#Participants with a low score in the MMSE-DS were found to have distinguishably lower denture need, smaller number of remaining teeth, and lesser color change in the masticatory performance evaluating gum. In the cognitive impairment group, a tendency of having unilateral and anterior occlusion led to occlusal discomfort and chewing difficulties. @*Conclusions@#The study highlights important associations between chewing ability and cognitive function. The finding corroborates that tooth loss may be a predictive risk factor for cognitive impairment.
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OBJECTIVES@#We analyzed whether gender role stereotypes (GRS) and patriarchal attitudes are associated with cognitive function in an elderly community. @*METHODS@#We analyzed data from 580 people enrolled in the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. The degrees to which respondents held stereotypical beliefs about gender roles and had patriarchal mindsets were measured using a questionnaire. Based on participants’ responses, we divided respondents into 2 groups—those with conservative mindsets and those with open mindsets—according to the median score for each of the 2 variables. Cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination, Korean version (MMSE-K). Cognitive impairment was defined as an MMSE-K score ≤21 points. Multivariable logistic regression was performed, adjusting for gender, age, socio-demographic and lifestyle factors, and social network size. Age and lifestyle factors were stratified. @*RESULTS@#Compared to those with open mindsets, those with conservative mindsets regarding gender roles and patriarchal norms had adjusted odds ratios of 1.88 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11 to 3.19) and 1.67 (95% CI, 1.00 to 2.79) for cognitive impairment, respectively. In the stratified analysis, subgroups with younger age and a good lifestyle maintained a protective association with cognitive impairment. @*CONCLUSIONS@#GRS and a patriarchal mindset were marginally significantly associated with cognitive impairment among women later in life.
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Objectives@#With the surge in the elderly population, a growing interest in the prevention and treatment of geriatric diseases has been observed, along with awareness of the severity of problems associated with dementia, a cognitive impairment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between chewing ability and cognitive function among elderly people residing in a rural area. @*Methods@#A total of 162 elderly individuals, aged between 65 and 97 years, were surveyed. Trained examiners conducted interviews and assessments of chewing ability, on the basis of the number of remaining teeth, denture status, masticatory performance evaluating gum, ShadeEye-NCC measuring overall change in color of the gum (ΔE), and T-Scan® III analyzing distribution of occlusion patterns. Cognitive function was assessed using the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination-Dementia Screening (MMSE-DS) tool. @*Results@#Participants with a low score in the MMSE-DS were found to have distinguishably lower denture need, smaller number of remaining teeth, and lesser color change in the masticatory performance evaluating gum. In the cognitive impairment group, a tendency of having unilateral and anterior occlusion led to occlusal discomfort and chewing difficulties. @*Conclusions@#The study highlights important associations between chewing ability and cognitive function. The finding corroborates that tooth loss may be a predictive risk factor for cognitive impairment.
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OBJECTIVES@#We analyzed whether gender role stereotypes (GRS) and patriarchal attitudes are associated with cognitive function in an elderly community. @*METHODS@#We analyzed data from 580 people enrolled in the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. The degrees to which respondents held stereotypical beliefs about gender roles and had patriarchal mindsets were measured using a questionnaire. Based on participants’ responses, we divided respondents into 2 groups—those with conservative mindsets and those with open mindsets—according to the median score for each of the 2 variables. Cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination, Korean version (MMSE-K). Cognitive impairment was defined as an MMSE-K score ≤21 points. Multivariable logistic regression was performed, adjusting for gender, age, socio-demographic and lifestyle factors, and social network size. Age and lifestyle factors were stratified. @*RESULTS@#Compared to those with open mindsets, those with conservative mindsets regarding gender roles and patriarchal norms had adjusted odds ratios of 1.88 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11 to 3.19) and 1.67 (95% CI, 1.00 to 2.79) for cognitive impairment, respectively. In the stratified analysis, subgroups with younger age and a good lifestyle maintained a protective association with cognitive impairment. @*CONCLUSIONS@#GRS and a patriarchal mindset were marginally significantly associated with cognitive impairment among women later in life.
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OBJECTIVES@#Physical activity (PA) is an established protective factor for many chronic diseases. Numerous studies have established positive relationships between social networks and PA. Accordingly, this study examined the relationship between social network structures (specifically the network size and the number and proportion of same-sex alters) and self-reported PA in Korean middle-age adults, where the term “alter” refers to a respondent’s social network members. @*METHODS@#We analyzed 8,092 participants of the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Etiology Research Center cohort. We assessed the association between each network structure variable and PA level using a linear regression model. Then, we employed logistic regression to evaluate associations between social network structure and adherence to guideline-recommended exercise levels. Socio-demographic factors and health status measures were used as covariates. @*RESULTS@#In both sexes, the social network size and proportion of same-sex network members showed positive relationships with total and moderate-to-vigorous PA. Notably, female participants with a greater number of kin were more likely to satisfy the recommended amount of total PA. @*CONCLUSIONS@#These findings suggest that large scale, same-sex intervention programs can help to achieve recommended PA regimens.
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OBJECTIVES@#Physical activity (PA) is an established protective factor for many chronic diseases. Numerous studies have established positive relationships between social networks and PA. Accordingly, this study examined the relationship between social network structures (specifically the network size and the number and proportion of same-sex alters) and self-reported PA in Korean middle-age adults, where the term “alter” refers to a respondent’s social network members. @*METHODS@#We analyzed 8,092 participants of the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Etiology Research Center cohort. We assessed the association between each network structure variable and PA level using a linear regression model. Then, we employed logistic regression to evaluate associations between social network structure and adherence to guideline-recommended exercise levels. Socio-demographic factors and health status measures were used as covariates. @*RESULTS@#In both sexes, the social network size and proportion of same-sex network members showed positive relationships with total and moderate-to-vigorous PA. Notably, female participants with a greater number of kin were more likely to satisfy the recommended amount of total PA. @*CONCLUSIONS@#These findings suggest that large scale, same-sex intervention programs can help to achieve recommended PA regimens.
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The acknowledgements was incorrect in the original publication of this article.
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Mortalities from cardiovascular disease in Korea have decreased markedly over the past three decades. The major cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors, however, remain prevalent, and their burden on health is large. The Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Etiology Research Center (CMERC) planned a cohort study in order to identify novel risk factors and to develop evidence-based prevention strategies of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. The CMERC deliberately designed two prospective cohorts, a community-based general population cohort (the CMERC cohort) and its sister cohort (a hospital-based high-risk patient cohort), covering a broad spectrum of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. This paper describes the CMERC cohort study of community-dwelling adults aged 30 to 64 years. A total of 8097 adults completed baseline measurement between 2013 and 2018. Baseline measurements assessed socio-demographic factors, medical history, health-related behaviors, psychological health, social network and support, anthropometry, body composition, and resting blood pressure and comprised electrocardiography, carotid artery ultrasonography, fasting blood analysis, and urinalysis. Both active follow-up through an annual telephone survey and a 5-year on-site health examination survey and passive follow-up through secondary data linkage with national databases, such as national death records, have been applied. Researchers interested in collaborative research may contact the corresponding author.
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Adult , Humans , Anthropometry , Blood Pressure , Body Composition , Cardiovascular Diseases , Carotid Arteries , Cohort Studies , Death Certificates , Electrocardiography , Fasting , Follow-Up Studies , Information Storage and Retrieval , Korea , Metabolic Diseases , Mortality , Prospective Studies , Republic of Korea , Risk Factors , Siblings , Telephone , Ultrasonography , UrinalysisABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the buffering effects of social support as an effects modifier in the association between depression and inflammation in the elderly. METHODS: We analyzed the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (KSHAP) for questionnaire, clinical, and laboratory data of 530 older adults living in a rural community. Multivariate regression models were used to investigate the association between depressive symptoms and C-reactive protein level (CRP), a marker of inflammation, at varying levels of social support. RESULTS: Social support affected the association between depressive symptoms and CRP level in both sexes. However, the direction of effects modification was different for men and women. In men, a higher CRP level was significantly associated with depressive symptoms only among those with lower support from a spouse or family members. By contrast, in women, the association was significant only among subgroups with higher spousal or family support. Social support from neighbors or friends did not affect the depression-inflammation relationship in men but modestly affected the relationship in women. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that social support may have a buffering effect in the relationship between depression and inflammation in elderly Koreans. But the influence of social support may run in different directions for men and women.
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Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Aging , C-Reactive Protein , Depression , Friends , Inflammation , Rural Population , SpousesABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Fall is one of major causes of morbidity and mortality in the elderly. It is known that sleep is associated with quality of life in the elderly. Snoring is one of the factors affecting sleep quality. The aim of the study was to examine whether snoring affect fall in the community elderly. METHODS: This survey was performed as a part of the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, which studied the elderly living in Ganghwa-gun. Fall was defined as any history of fall in the last year through face-to-face interview. We examined the following variables: age, sex, snoring, insomnia, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, bone disease, vision problems, depression, alcohol intake, mini-mental state examination, and body mass index. The data was analyzed by multiple logistic regression to determine the association of fall with the risk factors. RESULTS: In the multivariate analysis of 516 participants, the adjusted odd ratios (95% confidence interval) of simple snoring affecting fall was 1.70 (1.10–2.63). In addition, sex (female), age, and diabetes were significantly predicted the fall. CONCLUSION: Our result suggested that snoring could be a risk factor of fall. A more comprehensive study of the relationship between snoring and fall is needed to improve the quality of life of the community elderly.
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Aged , Humans , Aging , Body Mass Index , Bone Diseases , Depression , Hypertension , Logistic Models , Mortality , Multivariate Analysis , Quality of Life , Risk Factors , Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders , Snoring , StrokeABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Sleep disturbance is common in the elderly, which is result from multi-factorial causes encompassing socio-demographic, behavioral, and clinical factors. We aimed to identify factors associated with insomnia among the elderly in a rural community in South Korea, a country with a rapidly growing aged population. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used the data from the second wave of the Korean Social life, Health and Ageing Project, which is a cohort study of individuals living in a typical rural community in South Korea. Socio-demographic, behavioral, and clinical characteristics were obtained through face-to-face interviews. Various factors suspected to be associated with insomnia were compared between elderly participants with and without insomnia, and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify independent risk factors for insomnia. RESULTS: We found that 32.4% of 509 participants (72.8±7.7 years old) had insomnia. Female sex [odds ratio (OR)=2.19], low education level (OR=2.44), current smoking (OR=2.26), number of chronic diseases (OR=2.21 for 2–3 chronic diseases; OR=2.06 for 4 or more chronic diseases), and depression (OR=2.53) were independently associated with insomnia. CONCLUSION: We found that sex, education, chronic disease, and depression independently increase the risk of insomnia of the elderly in a Korean rural community. To overcome the elderly's insomnia, interventions should target modifiable factors such as depression. To promote active aging, longitudinal studies of factors associated with insomnia among the elderly should be performed in different regions and communities.
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Aged , Female , Humans , Aging , Chronic Disease , Cohort Studies , Cross-Sectional Studies , Depression , Education , Korea , Logistic Models , Longitudinal Studies , Republic of Korea , Risk Factors , Rural Population , Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders , Smoke , SmokingABSTRACT
PURPOSE: As comprehensive nursing care service has gradually expanded, it has become necessary to explore the various opinions about it. The purpose of this study is to explore the large amount of text data regarding comprehensive nursing care service extracted from online news and social media by applying a semantic network analysis. METHODS: The web pages of the Korean Nurses Association (KNA) News, major daily newspapers, and Twitter were crawled by searching the keyword ‘comprehensive nursing care service’ using Python. A morphological analysis was performed using KoNLPy. Nodes on a ‘comprehensive nursing care service’ cluster were selected, and frequency, edge weight, and degree centrality were calculated and visualized with Gephi for the semantic network. RESULTS: A total of 536 news pages and 464 tweets were analyzed. In the KNA News and major daily newspapers, ‘nursing workforce’ and ‘nursing service’ were highly rated in frequency, edge weight, and degree centrality. On Twitter, the most frequent nodes were ‘National Health Insurance Service’ and ‘comprehensive nursing care service hospital.’ The nodes with the highest edge weight were ‘national health insurance,’‘wards without caregiver presence,’ and ‘caregiving costs.’‘National Health Insurance Service’ was highest in degree centrality. CONCLUSION: This study provides an example of how to use atypical big data for a nursing issue through semantic network analysis to explore diverse perspectives surrounding the nursing community through various media sources. Applying semantic network analysis to online big data to gather information regarding various nursing issues would help to explore opinions for formulating and implementing nursing policies.
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Humans , Boidae , Caregivers , Communications Media , Insurance, Health , Nursing Care , Nursing Services , Nursing , Periodical , Semantics , Social MediaABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Sleep disturbance is a very rapidly growing disease with aging. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of sleep disturbances and its predictive factors in a three-year cohort study of people aged 60 years and over in Korea. METHODS: In 2012 and 2014, we obtained data from a survey of the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. We asked participants if they had been diagnosed with stroke, myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, arthritis, pulmonary tuberculosis, asthma, cataract, glaucoma, hepatitis B, urinary incontinence, prostate hypertrophy, cancer, osteoporosis, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, or metabolic syndrome. Cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination for dementia screening in 2012, and depression was assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale in 2012 and 2014. In 2015, a structured clinical interview for Axis I psychiatric disorders was administered to 235 people, and sleep disturbance was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. The perceived stress scale and the State-trait Anger Expression Inventory were also administered. Logistic regression analysis was used to predict sleep disturbance by gender, age, education, depression score, number of coexisting diseases in 2012 and 2014, current anger score, and perceived stress score. RESULTS: Twenty-seven percent of the participants had sleep disturbances. Logistic regression analysis showed that the number of medical diseases three years ago, the depression score one year ago, and the current perceived stress significantly predicted sleep disturbances. CONCLUSION: Comorbid medical disease three years previous and depressive symptoms evaluated one year previous were predictive of current sleep disturbances. Further studies are needed to determine whether treatment of medical disease and depressive symptoms can improve sleep disturbances.
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Aged , Humans , Aging , Anger , Angina Pectoris , Arthritis , Asthma , Cataract , Cognition , Cohort Studies , Comorbidity , Dementia , Depression , Education , Epidemiologic Studies , Follow-Up Studies , Glaucoma , Hepatitis B , Hyperlipidemias , Hypertension , Hypertrophy , Korea , Logistic Models , Mass Screening , Myocardial Infarction , Osteoporosis , Prevalence , Prostate , Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders , Stroke , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary , Urinary IncontinenceABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Stress is a psychological reaction to stimuli such as anxiety or threat felt by a person either physically or mentally when placed in a difficult situation. Although a relationship between stress and dry mouth has been reported, it remains understudied. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between stress and subjective dry mouth among the elderly living in a rural region. METHODS: A total of 214 people aged ≥60 years living in a rural area were recruited with an informed consent for a cross-sectional analysis. Information about stress and subjective dry mouth was obtained by an interview survey with a constructed questionnaire. Data on other potential confounding factors (including oral factors) such as socio-demographic data, health-related behaviors, the number of remaining teeth, and subjective chewing ability were also gathered at the same time. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the relationship of stress and dry mouth using SPSS. RESULTS: The Crude odds ratio (OR) of stress awareness affecting subjective dry mouth was 2.59 (95% confidence interval: 1.43–4.68). After adjusting for sex, education, income, smoking, and alcohol intake, the adjusted OR was 2.52 (95% confidence interval: 1.30–4.87) which was statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Elderly people who were stressed had an approximately 2-fold increase in experiencing subjective dry mouth when compared to their stress-free counterparts.
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Aged , Humans , Anxiety , Cross-Sectional Studies , Education , Informed Consent , Logistic Models , Mastication , Mouth , Odds Ratio , Pilot Projects , Smoke , Smoking , ToothABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the effects of the social engagement (size of the social networks, social support, social conflict) by relationship types (spouse, family and kin, and neighbor and friends) on the cognitive functions of older adults in rural communities. METHODS: The participants of this study were normal older adults who participated in the first wave of the Korean Social Life, Health and Aging Project. Five hundred two older adults (men 218, women 284) aged 60 and over (mean age=71.44±6.81) participated. We analyzed the effects of different types of social engagement on Mini-Mental State Examination for Dementia Screening (MMSE-DS) performance using hierarchical multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: The result showed that, after controlling for the education level and age, the social support from the spouse, the conflict with neighbors or friends, the number of neighbors or friends significantly predicted MMSE-DS scores. These three variables accounted for additional 5.2% of the total variance of MMSE-DS. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that social engagement (network size, support, conflict) is associated with cognitive function among older adults. However, social engagement in different types of social relationship may contribute differently to cognitive function of older adults.
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Adult , Female , Humans , Aging , Cognition , Cognitive Aging , Cognitive Reserve , Dementia , Education , Friends , Mass Screening , Rural Population , SpousesABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Controlling blood pressure is a key step in reducing cardiovascular mortality in older adults. Gender differences in patients' attitudes after disease diagnosis and their management of the disease have been identified. However, it is unclear whether gender differences exist in hypertension management among older adults. We hypothesized that gender differences would exist among factors associated with hypertension diagnosis and control among community-dwelling, older adults. METHODS: This cross-sectional study analyzed data from 653 Koreans aged > or =60 years who participated in the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. Multiple logistic regression was used to compare several variables between undiagnosed and diagnosed hypertension, and between uncontrolled and controlled hypertension. RESULTS: Diabetes was more prevalent in men and women who had uncontrolled hypertension than those with controlled hypertension or undiagnosed hypertension. High body mass index was significantly associated with uncontrolled hypertension only in men. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that in women, awareness of one's blood pressure level (odds ratio [OR], 2.86; p=0.003) and the number of blood pressure checkups over the previous year (OR, 1.06; p=0.011) might influence the likelihood of being diagnosed with hypertension. More highly educated women were more likely to have controlled hypertension than non-educated women (OR, 5.23; p=0.013). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that gender differences exist among factors associated with hypertension diagnosis and control in the study population of community-dwelling, older adults. Education-based health promotion strategies for hypertension control might be more effective in elderly women than in elderly men. Gender-specific approaches may be required to effectively control hypertension among older adults.
Subject(s)
Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Aging , Asian People , Awareness , Blood Pressure , Body Mass Index , Cross-Sectional Studies , Health Status , Hypertension/diagnosis , Logistic Models , Odds Ratio , Republic of Korea/epidemiology , Sex FactorsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence supports an association between age-related loss of muscle mass and insulin resistance. However, the association has not been fully investigated in the general population. Thus, we investigated the association between appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) and insulin resistance in an elderly Korean population. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 158 men (mean age, 71.8) and 241 women (mean age, 70.6) from the Korean Social Life, Health and Aging Project, which started in 2011. In this study, ASM was measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis and was analyzed in three forms: ASM (kg), ASM/height2 (kg/m2), and ASM/weight (%). The homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was used as a measure of insulin resistance. The relationships between the ASM values and the HOMA-IR were investigated by multiple linear regression models. RESULTS: The HOMA-IR was positively associated with ASM (beta=0.43, P<0.0001) and ASM/height2 (beta=0.36, P<0.0001) when adjusted for sex and age. However, after additional adjustment for body weight, HOMA-IR was inversely associated with ASM (beta=-0.43, P<0.001) and ASM/height2 (beta=-0.30, P=0.001). Adjustment for other potential confounders did not change these associations. Conversely, HOMA-IR was consistently and inversely associated with ASM/weight before and after adjustment for other potential confounders. CONCLUSION: Our results support the idea that lower skeletal muscle mass is independently associated with insulin resistance in older adults. When evaluating sarcopenia or muscle-related conditions in older adults, their whole body sizes also need to be considered.
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Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Aging , Body Size , Body Weight , Cohort Studies , Cross-Sectional Studies , Electric Impedance , Homeostasis , Insulin Resistance , Korea , Linear Models , Muscle, Skeletal , SarcopeniaABSTRACT
The Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (KSHAP) is a population-based longitudinal study of health determinants among elderly Koreans. The target population of the KSHAP are people aged 60 years or older and their spouses living in a rural community of Korea. A complete enumeration survey was conducted in the first wave of the KSHAP on 94.7% (814 of 860) of the target population between December 2011 and July 2012. The KSHAP-Health Examination (KSHAP-HE) cohort consists of 698 people who completed additional health examinations at a public health center (n=533) or at their home (n=165). Face-to-face questionnaires were used to interview participants on their demographics, social network characteristics, medical history, health behaviors, cognitive function, and depression symptoms. Health center examinations included anthropometric measures, body impedance analysis, resting blood pressure measurement, radial artery tonometry, bone densitometry, the timed up-and-go test, and fasting blood analysis. However, only anthropometric measures, blood pressure measurement, and non-fasting blood analysis were available for home health examinations. Collaboration is encouraged and access to the KSHAP baseline data will be available via the website of the Korean Social Science Data Archive (http://www.kossda.or.kr).
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Aged , Humans , Aging , Archives , Blood Pressure , Body Weights and Measures , Cohort Studies , Cooperative Behavior , Demography , Densitometry , Depression , Electric Impedance , Fasting , Health Behavior , Health Services Needs and Demand , Korea , Longitudinal Studies , Manometry , Public Health , Radial Artery , Rural Population , Social Determinants of Health , Social Sciences , Spouses , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Research has shown that obesity appears to spread through social ties. However, the association between other characteristics of social networks and obesity is unclear. This study aimed to identify the association between social network characteristics and body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) in an elderly Korean population. METHODS: This cross-sectional study analyzed data from 657 Koreans (273 men, 384 women) aged 60 years or older who participated in the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. Network size is a count of the number of friends. Density of communication network is the number of connections in the social network reported as a fraction of the total links possible in the personal (ego-centric) network. Average frequency of communication (or meeting) measures how often network members communicate (or meet) each other. The association of each social network measure with BMI was investigated by multiple linear regression analysis. RESULTS: After adjusting for potential confounders, the men with lower density (0.83) and lower size (1-2), but not in the women (p=0.393). The lowest tertile of communication frequency was associated with higher BMI in the women (beta=0.885, p=0.049), but not in the men (p=0.140). CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that social network structure (network size and density) and activation (communication frequency and meeting frequency) are associated with obesity among the elderly. There may also be gender differences in this association.