All-cause mortality risk associated with leisure activities in China: A cohort study

This study aimed to investigate potential associations between leisure activities and all-cause mortality among the elderly population in China.

We used data from six pooled waves from 1998 to 2018 consisting of 44620 individuals from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS). Cox non-proportional hazards models were employed to estimate the correlations between leisure activities and all-cause mortality while adjusting for a time-varying coefficient, sociodemographic, self-reported medical history, and other pertinent confounders. Additionally, a supplementary analysis was conducted to calculate the restricted mean survival time (RMST) to quantify the survival advantage of abundant leisure activities.

After adjusting for covariates, participants reporting abundant leisure activities at baseline (defined as engaging in more than four of eight specified leisure activities) had a significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality compared to those with relatively limited activities. The hazard ratios (HRs) for abundant activities were as follows: for males aged >80 years: HR=0.63 (follow-up ≤3 years) and HR=0.80 (follow-up 4-7 years); for females aged >80 years: HR=0.72 (≤3 years) and HR=0.51 (4-7 years); for females aged ≤80 years: HR=0.51 (1-3 years). The RMST difference was 1.16 years in favor of the group with abundant leisure activities.

The findings of this study suggest that abundant leisure activities (defined as participation in more than four of the eight leisure activities) are associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality among older adults. These results may provide a basis for the development of public health strategies aimed at encouraging older populations to engage in abundant leisure activities.