Association between Social Relationship and Glycemic Control among Older Japanese: JAGES Cross-Sectional Study
Kenichi Yokobayashi1,2, Ichiro Kawachi1, Katsunori Kondo3,4,5
1Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States of America.
Aim:
The present study examined whether social support, informal socializing and social participation are associated with glycemic control in older people.
Methods:
Data for this population-based cross-sectional study was obtained from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) 2010 linked to the annual health check-up data in Japan. We analyzed 9,554 individuals aged ≥65 years without the certification of needed long-term care. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to assess the effect of social support, informal socializing and social participations on glycemic control. The outcome measure was HbA1c ≥8.4%.
Results:
1.3% of the participants had a level of HbA1c over 8.4%. Better glycemic control was significantly associated with meeting with friends one to four times per month (odds ratio [OR] 0.51, 95% confidence interval [CI]0.30-0.89, compared to meeting with friends a few times per year or less) and participation in sports groups (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.26-0.97) even after adjusting for other variables. Meeting with friends more than twice per week, receiving social support, and being married were not associated with better control of diabetes.
Conclusions:
Meeting with friends occasionally is associated with better glycemic control among older people.
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