• Online Features  This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (18)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related letters  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Aging/ Geriatrics  • Psychosocial Issues  • Public Health  • Exercise  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Aron S. Buchman, MD; Patricia A. Boyle, PhD; Robert S. Wilson, PhD; Debra A. Fleischman, PhD; Sue Leurgans, PhD; David A. Bennett, MD

Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(12):1139-1146.

Background  Loss of motor function is a common consequence of aging, but little is known about the factors that predict idiopathic motor decline. Our objective was to test the hypothesis that late-life social activity is related to the rate of change in motor function in old age.

Methods  Longitudinal cohort study with a mean follow-up of 4.9 years with 906 persons without stroke, Parkinson disease, or dementia participating in the Rush Memory and Aging Project. At baseline, participants rated the frequency of their current participation in common social activities from which a summary measure of social activity was derived. The main outcome measure was annual change in a composite measure of global motor function, based on 9 measures of muscle strength and 9 motor performances.

Results  Mean (SD) social activity score at baseline was 2.6 (0.58), with higher scores indicating more frequent participation in social activities. In a generalized estimating equation model, controlling for age, sex, and education, global motor function declined by approximately 0.05 U/y (estimate, 0.016; 95% confidence interval [CI], –0.057 to 0.041 [P = .02]). Each 1-point decrease in social activity was associated with approximately a 33% more rapid rate of decline in motor function (estimate, 0.016; 95% CI, 0.003 to 0.029 [P = .02]). The effect of each 1-point decrease in the social activity score at baseline on the rate of change in global motor function was the same as being approximately 5 years older at baseline (age estimate, –0.003; 95% CI, –0.004 to –0.002 [P<.001]). Furthermore, this amount of motor decline per year was associated with a more than 40% increased risk of death (hazard ratio, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.30 to 1.60) and a 65% increased risk of incident Katz disability (hazard ratio, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.48 to 1.83). The association of social activity with the rate of global motor decline did not vary along demographic lines and was unchanged (estimate, 0.025; 95% CI, 0.005 to 0.045 [P = .01]) after controlling for potential confounders including late-life physical and cognitive activity, disability, global cognition depressive symptoms, body composition, and chronic medical conditions.

Conclusion  Less frequent participation in social activities is associated with a more rapid rate of motor function decline in old age.

Author Affiliations: Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center (Drs Buchman, Boyle, Wilson, Fleischman, Leurgans, and Bennett) and Departments of Neurological Sciences (Drs Buchman, Wilson, Fleischman, Leurgans, and Bennett) and Behavioral Science (Drs Boyle, Wilson, and Fleischman), Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.

CiteULike    Connotea    Delicious    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED LETTERS

Late-Life Social Activity
Saskia Verkleij, Jantine Scheele, and Johannes C. van der Wouden
Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(20):1931-1932.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Late-Life Social Activity—Reply
Aron S. Buchman, Patricia A. Boyle, Robert S. Wilson, Debra A. Fleischman, Sue E. Leurgans, and David A. Bennett
Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(20):1932.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

RELATED ARTICLE

In This Issue of Archives of Internal Medicine
Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(12):1094.
FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Onset of mobility limitations in old age: the combined effect of socioeconomic position and social relations
Nilsson et al.
Age Ageing 2011;40:607-614.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Social Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Korean American Older Adults: The Conditioning Role of Acculturation
Jang and Chiriboga
J Aging Health 2011;23:767-781.
ABSTRACT  

Frequent shopping by men and women increases survival in the older Taiwanese population
Chang et al.
J. Epidemiol. Community Health 2011;0:jech.2010.126698v1-jech.2010.126698.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Relation of Late-Life Social Activity With Incident Disability Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults
James et al.
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2011;66A:467-473.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Effectiveness of a Stimulation Program on Cognitive Capacity Among Individuals Older Than 60
Karatay and Akkus
West J Nurs Res 2011;33:26-44.
ABSTRACT  

Social Inequality in Onset of Mobility Disability Among Older Danes: The Mediation Effect of Social Relations
Nilsson et al.
J Aging Health 2010;22:522-541.
ABSTRACT  

Late-Life Social Activity--Reply
Buchman et al.
Arch Intern Med 2009;169:1932-1932.
FULL TEXT  

Late-Life Social Activity
Verkleij et al.
Arch Intern Med 2009;169:1931-1932.
FULL TEXT