The association between social support and physical activity in older adults: a systematic review

Abstract

BackgroundThe promotion of active and healthy ageing is becoming increasingly important as the population ages. Physical activity (PA) significantly reduces all-cause mortality and contributes to the prevention of many chronic illnesses. However, the proportion of people globally who are active enough to gain these health benefits is low and decreases with age. Social support (SS) is a social determinant of health that may improve PA in older adults, but the association has not been systematically reviewed.This review had three aims: 1) Systematically review and summarise studies examining the association between SS, or loneliness, and PA in older adults; 2) clarify if specific types of SS are positively associated with PA; and 3) investigate whether the association between SS and PA differs between PA domains.MethodsQuantitative studies examining a relationship between SS, or loneliness, and PA levels in healthy, older adults over 60 were identified using MEDLINE, PSYCInfo, SportDiscus, CINAHL and PubMed, and through reference lists of included studies. Quality of these studies was rated.ResultsThis review included 27 papers, of which 22 were cross sectional studies, three were prospective/longitudinal and two were intervention studies. Overall, the study quality was moderate. Four articles examined the relation of PA with general SS, 17 with SS specific to PA (SSPA), and six with loneliness. The results suggest that there is a positive association between SSPA and PA levels in older adults, especially when it comes from family members. No clear associations were identified between general SS, SSPA from friends, or loneliness and PA levels. When measured separately, leisure time PA (LTPA) was associated with SS in a greater percentage of studies than when a number of PA domains were measured together.ConclusionsThe evidence surrounding the relationship between SS, or loneliness, and PA in older adults suggests that people with greater SS for PA are more likely to do LTPA, especially when the SS comes from family members. However, high variability in measurement methods used to assess both SS and PA in included studies made it difficult to compare studies.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12966-017-0509-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

An investigation of physical activity among adults in Turkey using the Omaha System

“…Similar findings were reported by Rai et al (2019) and Jones, Wen, Herring, and Evenson (2016). At the interpersonal level, social support has been positively associated with physical activity (Bauman et al, 2012;Smith, Banting, Eime, O'Sullivan, & van Uffelen, 2017;Thornton et al, 2017). Environmental factors-which relate to institutional, community, and policy levels of influence-have also been associated with physical activity, such as a positive association between physical activity and proximity to recreational facilities (Bauman et al, 2012;Thornton et al, 2017) and transportation environment safety/walkability (Bauman et al, 2012;O'Donoghue et al, 2016).…”

Is the Effect of Physical Activity on Quality of Life in Older Adults Mediated by Social Support?

“…In older adults, a higher SS is associated with decreased rates of both morbidity and mortality [28], improved physiological health parameters [29], and a higher QOL [30]. Furthermore, several studies have reported a positive relationship between social ties and PA in the elderly [31, 32]. …”

Correlates of light physical activity among cancer survivors

“…Based on research examining correlates of MVPA, perceived social support was expected to be positively associated with LPA and higher unsupportive partner response to cancer was expected to be negatively associated with LPA. Instead, results revealed no significant association of perceived social support and LPA.…”

“…Additionally, among those not engaging in any MVPA, greater unsupportive partner behaviors increased odds of engaging in LPA. Although research has demonstrated consistent associations between social support and physical activity among aging adults and cancer survivors, less research has examined the relative influence of undermining behaviors, or the support source's proximity to the cancer survivor. It may be that the influence of social support on LPA varies based on a variety of factors such as support type (ie, emotional vs practical), the source of support (eg, partner, family member, friend, support group), the proximity/dose of support (eg, living with support source vs geographically remote), and the presence of undermining behaviors.…”

“…It is also important to consider that the SCS‐I study measured general perceived social support, as opposed to assessing task‐specific social support for physical activity. A measurement tool specific to social support for physical activity may have shown statistical significance . Finally, it may be that cancer survivors with less supportive partners engage in less MVPA but larger amounts of LPA through increased instrumental activities of daily living (eg, cleaning, cooking, laundry, and errands) .…”