Being useful among persons aged over 65: social representations from a cross-sectional European study

There is a compelling need to prepare our societies and healthcare systems to deal with the oncoming wave of population ageing. The majority of older persons maintain a desire to be valued and useful members of society and of their social networks.

We sought to investigate the perception of usefulness among persons aged 65 years and over in four European countries.

We performed a cross-sectional survey with a representative sample of individuals aged 65 years or older from the population of retired persons (including recently retired persons and oldest-old individuals) from 4 European countries selected using quota sampling. In February 2016, an internet questionnaire was sent to all selected individuals. The characteristics used for the quota sampling method were sex, age, socio-professional category, region, city size, number of persons in household, autonomy, marital status, place of residence, income and educational status. The questionnaire contained 57 questions. Sociodemographic characteristics were recorded. Responses were analysed with principal components analysis (PCA).

A total of 4025 persons participated; 51% were males, and 70% were aged 65-75 years. PCA identified six classes of individuals, of which two classes (Classes 2 and 3) were characterized by more socially isolated individuals with little or no sense of usefulness, low self-esteem and a poor sense of well-being. These two classes accounted for almost 20% of the population. Younger and more autonomous classes reported a more salient sense of usefulness.

The loss of the sense of usefulness is associated with dissatisfaction with life and a loss of pleasure, and persons with profiles corresponding to Classes 2 and 3 should, therefore, be targeted for interventions aimed at restoring social links.