Active social engagement and health among older adults: assessing differences by cancer survivorship status

• Published in: Health and quality of life outcomes Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 67 - 12
• Main Authors: Moss, Jennifer L, Bernacchi, Veronica, Kitt-Lewis, Erin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 20-08-2024; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Active engagement with life; Adults; Age groups; Aged; Aged patients; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Availability; Cancer; Cancer survivors; Cancer Survivors - psychology; Cancer Survivors - statistics & numerical data; Cancer survivorship; Care and treatment; Censuses; Clinical outcomes; Educational attainment; Ethnicity; Family income; Female; Health aspects; Health Status; Health surveys; Health-related quality of life; Heterosexuality; Humans; Male; Marital status; Mental health; Middle Aged; Neoplasms - psychology; Older adults; Older people; Quality of life; Quality of Life - psychology; Regression analysis; Social aspects; Social behavior; Social Interaction; Social interactions; Social participation; Social Participation - psychology; Social Support; Sociodemographics; Standard error; Surveys; Surveys and Questionnaires; Survival; Survivorship; United States; United States; Aging; Health-related quality of life; Active engagement with life; Older adults; Cancer; Cancer survivorship
• ISSN: 1477-7525; 1477-7525
• DOI: 10.1186/s12955-024-02281-8

The number of older adults who are cancer survivors is rapidly growing. Evidence is needed to inform interventions to support successful aging among older adults (including older adult cancer survivors). Active engagement with life, that is, spending time with family and/or close friends, may be related to health outcomes, but this concept remains understudied.
We used survey data to assess active engagement among older adults (ages 50 + years) from seven mid-Atlantic US states (n = 2,914), and geocoded their residence to collect collected measures of community availability of social interaction. Outcomes were physical and mental health-related quality of life (HRQoL), assessed with the SF-12. We used multivariable, multilevel linear regression to evaluate relationships between social interactions (i.e., "active engagement with life," or visiting with family and/or friends at least once per week and having at least three close friends, and community-level availability, measured with census tract-level park land and walkability and with county-level availability of social associations) and HRQoL. Finally, we explored differences in these relationships by recent cancer survivorship.
Overall, 1,518 (52.3%) participants were actively engaged. Active engagement was associated with higher physical HRQoL (estimate = 0.94, standard error [SE] = 0.46, p = .04) and mental HRQoL (estimate = 2.10, SE = 0.46, p < .001). The relationship between active engagement and physical HRQoL was stronger for recent cancer survivors (estimate = 4.95, SE = 1.84, p < .01) than for the general population (estimate = 1.10, SE = 0.43, p = .01). Community-level availability of social interaction was not associated with HRQoL.
Our analysis demonstrated promising associations between active engagement with life and HRQoL among older adults, with large benefits for older cancer survivors. Additional research is needed on how active engagement is associated with better HRQoL, which can inform future policies and programs to optimize the aging process in the US.