Study reveals important lifestyle change that could lengthen lifespan in older adults

Regular social interaction – almost on a daily basis – may lengthen the lifespan of older adults, according to a new study of over 28,000 individuals.

Estimates suggest that the number of individuals aged 60 or above globally was at 962 million in 2017, with research predicting this figure to double by 2050.

While previous studies have hinted that active social life is a key element for “active” or “successful” aging mostly in Western populations, the new research, published recently in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, assessed whether the frequency of socialising is linked to overall survival in a large group of older people living in China.

Researchers analysed data on participants of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS), an ongoing, prospective nationally representative study of older people living independently, which began in 1998.

The new study focused on five separate waves of data collection up to 2018-19, involving a total of 28,563 participants with an average age of 89.

In the survey, participants were asked how often they engaged in social activities.

The categories included whether they socialised almost every day; at least once a week; at least once a month; occasionally; and never.

Researchers also collected information on potentially influential factors such as sex, education, marital status, household income, fruit and vegetable intake, lifestyle, and poor health.

The participants’ survival was also tracked for an average of 5 years or until death.

Over the first five years, researchers say 25,406 people reported not engaging in any social activity, and 1379 reported doing so sometimes while 693 reported socialising at least once a month, 553 at least once a week, and 532 almost daily.

During the monitoring period, scientists say 21,161 participants died, of whom 15,728 died within the first five years.

The study findings suggested that more frequent social activity is linked to significantly longer survival and greater the frequency, the greater the likelihood of living longer.

Researchers reported that the time to death was delayed by 42 per cent in those who socialised occasionally, and by 48 per cent in those who did at least monthly.

The figures were 110 per cent among those who did so at least weekly, and by 87 per cent in those who did so nearly every day, compared with those who said they never socialised.

Scientists noted that the standardised death rates among the participants were 6.2 per 100 people monitored for a year among those who never socialised; 4.8 among those who did so occasionally; five among those socializing at least once a month; 5.4 among those doing so at least once a week; and 3.6 among those who did so nearly every day.

The study also found a threshold.

Socialising nearly every day was linked to significantly longer survival in the group among whom time to death was delayed by 204 per cent, researchers say.

The factors linked to being more socially active were male sex, younger age, a higher level of education, marriage, living in a town/city and/or with relatives, and actual/self-rated good health.

When the data was stratified by age, social activity appeared to be even more strongly associated with extended survival within the first 5 years for the oldest, scientists say.

The findings, according to researchers, indicate that strategies to promote the maintenance of an active social life in very old people, should be encouraged.

“Although the association between social activity frequency and overall survival attenuated after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, socioeconomic status, healthy behaviours, and several morbidities, it still remained statistically significant, which indicated that social activity participation per se was an independent predictor for overall survival in older people,” scientists concluded.