Neighborhood Social Cohesion Associates with Loneliness Differently among Older People According to Subjective Social St
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NEIGHBORHOOD SOCIAL COHESION ASSOCIATES WITH LONELINESS DIFFERENTLY AMONG OLDER PEOPLE ACCORDING TO SUBJECTIVE SOCIAL STATUS R. YU1,2, G. LEUNG1, J. CHAN3, B.H.K. YIP3, S. WONG3, T. KWOK1,2, J. WOO1,2 1. Jockey Club Institute of Ageing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China; 2. Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China; 3. School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. Corresponding author: Ruby Yu, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China., Tel: (852) 3943 5142, Fax: (852) 2637 9215 E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Objectives: To examine whether neighborhood social cohesion can alleviate the negative impact of low subjective social status on feelings of loneliness. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Community, Hong Kong. Participants: Older people who participated in a cohort study on osteoporosis and general health in Hong Kong (MrOs study). Methods: Data were sourced from the 14-year follow-up data of the MrOs study. Loneliness was measured using the 6-item De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale. Neighborhood social cohesion was measured by the Hong Kong version of Neighborhood Cohesion Instrument. Linear regression models were used to examine the associations between neighborhood social cohesion and loneliness, controlled for age, sex, marital status, educational level, lifestyle, number of diseases, and maximum lifetime income. The analyses were stratified by subjective social status as measured by a 10-rung self-anchoring scale. Results: 1,037 participants with a mean age of 83 years were included in the study, of whom 72%, 83%, and 64% were classified as at risk of overall loneliness, emotional loneliness, and social loneliness, respectively. Those who were classified as at risk of overall loneliness reported lower subjective social status and had lower levels of neighborhood social cohesion. Linear regression models showed that higher levels of neighborhood social cohesion were associated with lower levels of overall and social loneliness. Stratified analyses showed that the associations between neighborhood social cohesion and loneliness vary across subjective social status groups. Among those with low/middle social status ranking, higher levels of neighborhood social cohesion were associated with lower overall (low-ranking B=-0.111, p=0.001; middle-ranking B=-0.057, p=0.026) and social (low-ranking B=-0.093, p
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