Linking social capital and mortality in the elderly: A Swedish national cohort study

Abstract

Objectives Our objective was to examine the association between neighborhood linking social capital (a concept describing the amount of trust between individuals and societal institutions) and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in the elderly. DesignThe entire Swedish population aged 65+, a total of 1,517,336 men and women, was followed from 1 January 2002 until death, emigration, or the end of the study on 31December 2010. Small geographic units were used to define neighborhoods. The definition of linking social capital was based on neighborhood voting participation rates, categorized into three groups. Multilevel logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and between-neighborhood variance in three different models. ResultsThe results showed an overall association between linking social capital and allcause mortality. The significant OR of 1.53 in the group with low linking social capital decreased, but remained significant (OR = 1.27), after accounting for age, sex, family income, marital status, country of birth, education level, and region of residence. There were also significant associations between linking social capital and cause-specific mortality in coronary heart disease, psychiatric disorders, cancer, stroke, chronic lower respiratory diseases, type 2 diabetes, and suicide. ConclusionThere are associations between low linking social capital and mortality from chronic disorders and suicide in the elderly population. Community support for elderly people living in neighborhoods with low levels of linking social capital may need to be strengthened.

Educational strategies for the prevention of diabetes, hypertension, and obesity

“…19,24,25 Individuals need to identify with the process and feel a part of it. 26,27 In this respect, the multidisciplinary pedagogical ways, the family participation, community health workers, social institutions, and public governance are very important in the control of the diabetes, hypertension, and obesity pandemy.…”

“…Negative mood disorders such as anxiety, depression, anger, loneliness, abandonment, and unemployment, among others, can lead to an increase in the consumption of foods with high caloric density. Individuals under greater emotional stress or solitary individuals show physiological problems more easily, 27,31,57 especially in the presence of an inadequate diet.…”

Social capital and common mental disorder: a systematic review

“…First, the measurement of ESC was extremely varied across studies, ranging from one-dimensional ecological measures, such as voting rates,27 28 to ISC scores aggregated to the community level severely restricting the comparability of findings across the ESC studies 15. Despite these measurement differences, there were no clear differences in results between the studies that used aggregate measures versus single ecological measures in this review.…”

Neighborhoods and mortality in Sweden: Is deprivation best assessed nationally or regionally?

“…Increased mortality due to all causes has been previously reported among individuals residing in areas with low social capital (odds ratio after adjustments 1.27 95% CI 1.25-1.29) (Sundquist et al 2014). Regarding CHD mortality, Winkleby, Sundquist, and Cubbin (2007) found an increased risk for both men, HR: 1.36 (1.22-1.52), and women, HR: 1.33 (1.08-1.65), among those residing in a neighborhood defined as being highly deprived as compared to a low deprivation equivalent (Winkleby, Sundquist, and Cubbin 2007).…”