Relationship between types of activity and subjective well-being in older adults living alone: Secondary analysis of the 2014 survey of attitudes towards older people living alone

Abstract

Objective: In the contemporary aging society, subjective well-being is an important determinant of quality of life for older adults living alone. Although the association between improved health and subjective well-being in this population is well documented, the types of activities associated with subjective well-being are unclear.

Methods: This study assessed the relationship between subjective well-being and activity types among older adults living alone based on a secondary analysis of the 2014 Survey of Attitudes Towards Older People Living Alone data. We conducted a Poisson regression analysis to determine the association between activity and subjective well-being.

Results: After adjustment for age, sex, subjective physical health, subjective mental health, and income, higher levels of subjective well-being were significantly associated with spending time with family, meeting friends, playing with pets, eating, hiking, traveling, and watching sports.

Conclusion: Going out and interactive activities, as well as individual activities outside the home, are associated with higher levels of subjective well-being. Promoting these activities has the potential to increase the subjective well-being of older adults.

Keywords

Living alone / Older adults / Subjective well-being / Physical health / Mental health

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