JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

With the gradual acceleration of population aging, social isolation in older people has increasingly become a hot topic of social concern. The reduction of valid social participation will cause older people to weaken their sense of belonging to the community and social acquisition, negatively impact on the older people’s quality of life. The study is aimed to explore the main risk factors affecting the social isolation of older people, so as to provide a solid scientific basis for improving the health behavior of older people in China.

Objective:

The purpose of the present study is twofold: (i) to describe the prevalence of social isolation and (ii) to identify risk factors that predict social isolation amongst older people living in the community in China. Our study will provide a scientific basis for reducing social isolation and improving the health behavior of older people.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 2267 community residents over 60 years old from 4 cites in Jiangsu Province, China. Perceived social support scale, Geriatric Depression Scale, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Comprehensive Ability of Older People Assessment Scale and other influencing factors scale were used to investigate the current situation. Social isolation was measured with the Lubben Social Network Scale. Demographic data were evaluated using descriptive statistical analyses and relationships among study variables were determined to use a path analysis. All data were analyzed using SPSS version 22 and AMOS version 26 using T-test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), logistic regression analyses, and path analysis method. The test level was set at alpha = 0.05, and the difference was statistically significant at p value < 0.05.

Results:

The results of the model test analysis indicated that the hypothesized paths were supported by data from our samples and demonstrated significance on the path coefficients (p < 0.05). Risk factors in the three dimensions of social risk, economic risk and cultural risk have an impact on the social isolation of older people in the community through direct and indirect pathways, and also indirectly through the partially mediated role of depression. Overall, our hypothesized model was retained, indicating empirical support and adequate model’s fit indices for the theoretical model.

Conclusions:

The findings demonstrated the predictive role of risk factors of social isolation in older people. In the future, we should focus on developing interventions by uniting many forces such as society, family and older people themselves to reduce social isolation among this vulnerable population and improve the quality of life of older people and promote healthy aging.