Abstract
Background Several studies have shown that social engagement is associated with health outcomes, but its relationship with frailty has been less explored. Objectives The present study aims to examine the association between social engagement (namely, social participation, social ties, marital status, and emotional support), frailty and their relationship to mortality. We test two hypotheses. First, whether social engagement and frailty are independently associated with mortality. Second, whether frailty mediates the relationship between social engagement and mortality. Methods Data from the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing (ELSA) were analyzed. Respondents were divided into three groups: not frail, pre-frail and frail. Multinomial logit model (MNL) was used to assess the independent contribution of baseline social engagement in predicting frailty at wave 2, adjusting for baseline demographic characteristics, health behavior, disability, cognitive function and co-morbid conditions. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the independent contribution of baseline social engagement and frailty at wave 2 in predicting incidence of death. Results: Results from the MNL model show that baseline emotional support lowers the risk of becoming pre-frail for those who are not frail. However, once individuals become pre-frail, emotional support is not protective against frailty. Social ties, social participation and marital status are not significantly associated with frailty. Results from a Cox hazard model show that frailty is an independent predictor of mortality but none of the social engagement measures were associated with mortality. Conclusion Social engagement is not directly associated with mortality and frailty might mediate the relationship between social engagement and mortality.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahmed, N., Mandel, R., & Fain, M. J. (2007). Frailty: An emerging geriatric syndrome. The American Journal of Medicine, 120(9), 748–753.
Barth, J., Scheneider, S., & Känel, R. V. (2010). Lack of social support in the aetiology and prognosis of coronary heart disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychosomatic Medicine, 72, 229–238.
Bergman, H., Ferrucci, L., Guralnik, J., Hogan, D., Hummel, S., Karunananthan, S., et al. (2007). Frailty: An emerging research and clinical paradigm–issues and controversies. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, 62, 731–737.
Berkman, L. F., & Syme, S. L. (1979). Social networks, host resistance, and mortality: A nine-year follow-up study of Alameda County residents. American Journal of Epidemiology, 109(2), 186–204.
Cheshire, H., Cox, K., Lessof, C., & Taylor, R. (2000). Methodology. In J. Banks, E. Breeze, C. Lessof, & J. Nazroo (Eds.), Retirement, health and relationships of the older population in England: The 2004 english longitudinal study of ageing. London: The Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Cohen, S. (1988). Psychosocial models of the role of social support in the etiology of physical disease. Health Psychology, 7(3), 269–297.
Cohen, S. (2004). Social relationships and health. American Psychologist, 59(8), 676–684. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.59.8.676 (2004-20395-002 [pii]).
Frasure-Smith, N., Lespérance, F., Gravel, G., Masson, A., Juneau, M., Talajic, M., et al. (2000). Social support, depression, and mortality during the first year after myocardial infarction. Circulation, 101, 1919–1924.
Fried, L., Tangen, C. M., Walston, J., Newman, A. , Hirsh, C., Gottdiener, J., et al. (2001). Frailty in older adults evidence for a phenotype. Journal of Gerontolgy: A Biological Science Med Science, 56(3), M146–M157.doi:10.1093/gerona/56.3.M146
Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., & Layton, J. B. (2010). Social relationships and mortality risk: A meta-analytic review. Plos Medicine, 7(7).
House, J. S., Robbins, C., & Metzner, H. L. (1982). The association of social relationships and activities with mortality: Prospective evidence from the tecumseh community health study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 116(1), 123–140.
Hubbard, R., Lang, I. A., Llewellyn, D. J., & Rockwood, K. (2010). Frailty, body mass index, and abdominal obesity in older people. Journal of Gerontoly A Medical Science, 65(4), 377–381.
Jung, Y., Gruenewald, T. L., Seeman, T. E., & Sarkisian, C. A. (2010). Productive activities and development of frailty in older adults. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 65B(2), 256–261.
Kamiya, Y., Whelan, B., Timonen, V., & Kenny, R. A. (2010). The differential impact of subjective and objective aspects of social engagement on cardiovascular risk factors. BMC Geriatrics, 10.
Kawachi, I., & Berkman, L. F. (2001). Social ties and mental health. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 78(3), 458–469.
Kroenke, C. H., Kubzansky, L. D., Schernhammer, E. S., Holmes, M. D., & Kawachi, I. (2006). Social networks, social support, and survival after breast cancer diagnosis. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 24(7), 1105–1111.
Lakey, B., & Cohen, S. (2000). Social support theory and measurement. In S. Cohen, L. Underwood, & B. H. Gottlieb (Eds.), Social support measurement and intervention: A guide for health and social scientists (pp. 29–52). New York: Oxford University Press.
Puts, M., Lips, P., & Deeg, D. J. (2005). Static and dynamic measures of frailty predict decline in a performance-based and self-reported measure of physical functioning. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 58, 1188–1198.
Scholes, S., Medina, J., Cheshire, H., Cox, K., Hacker, E., & Lessof, C. (2009). Technical report (wave 3): Living in the 21st century: Older people in England: The 2006 english longitudinal study of ageing.
Strawbridge, W. J., Shema, S. J., Balfour, J. L., Higby, H. R., & Kaplan, G. A. (1998). Antecedents of frailty over three decades in an older cohort. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 53B, S9–S16.
Turner, A., Phillips, L., Hambridge, J. A., Baker, A. L., Bowman J., & Colyvas, K. (2010). Clinical outcomes associated with depression, anxiety and social support among cardiac rehabilitation attendees. Australian N Z Psychiatry, 44(7), 658–666.
Uchino, B. N. (2006). Social support and health: A review of physiological processes potentially underlying links to disease outcomes. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 29(4), 377–387. doi:10.1007/s10865-006-9056-5
Walsto, J., Hadley, E. C., Ferrucci, L., Guralnik, J. M., Newman, A. B., Studenski, S. A., et al. (2006). Research agenda for frailty in older adults: Toward a better understanding of physiology and etiology: Summary from the American Geriatrics Society/National Institute on aging research conference on frailty in older adults. Jounal of American Geriatrics Society, 54, 991–1001.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kamiya, Y., Kenny, R.A. (2017). Does Social Engagement Predict Frailty and Mortality in the Older Population?. In: Hoque, M., Pecotte, B., McGehee, M. (eds) Applied Demography and Public Health in the 21st Century. Applied Demography Series, vol 8. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43688-3_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43688-3_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-43686-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-43688-3
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)