ArticleQuality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation2016
Structural and functional measures of social relationships and quality of life among older adults: does chronic disease status matter?
Article in Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A systematic review of quality of life (QoL) studies using the CASP scale in older adults.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2024Pooled it
- Correlates of social support in individuals with a diagnosis of common mental disorders and non communicable medical diseases in rural South India.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2021Trial
- The Quality of Life in Kidney Transplant Recipients and Its Relation With the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine: A Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Associations of Critical Relationships With Distress and Burden in Caregivers of Patients With Brain Tumor.Psycho-oncology · 2025Article
- The knowledge level and influencing factors of sarcopenia among Chinese community-dwelling older adults.PloS one · 2025Article
- Neighborhood environment and quality of life of older adults in eastern Nepal: findings from a cross-sectional study.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Health-Related Quality of Life in Older Adults: Its Association with Health Literacy, Self-Efficacy, Social Support, and Health-Promoting Behavior.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Social participation is an important health behaviour for health and quality of life among chronically ill older Chinese people.BMC geriatrics · 2020Article
- The prospective association between frequency of contact with friends and relatives and quality of life in older adults from Central and Eastern Europe.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2020Article
- Couple-based collaborative management model of type 2 diabetes mellitus for community-dwelling older adults in China: protocol for a hybrid type 1 randomized controlled trial.BMC geriatrics · 2020Article
- Theory and Design of the Community for successful ageing (ComSA) program in Singapore: connecting BioPsychoSocial health and quality of life experiences of older adults.BMC geriatrics · 2019Article
- Factors associated with perceived quality of life in older adults: ELSI-Brazil.Revista de saude publica · 2018Article
- Socioeconomic inequality in recovery from poor physical and mental health in mid-life and early old age: prospective Whitehall II cohort study.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2018Article
- Experiences and Concerns of Lesbian, Gay, or Bisexual Survivors of Colorectal Cancer.Oncology nursing forum · 2017Article
- The effect of 12-week Pilates exercises on wellness in the elderly.Journal of exercise rehabilitation · 2016Article
- Factors That Influence the Relationship Between Social Support and Health-Related Quality of Life of Older People Living in the Community.Gerontology & geriatric medicineArticle
- Population Health Management for Older Adults: Review of Interventions for Promoting Successful Aging Across the Health Continuum.Gerontology & geriatric medicineReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeTo evaluate the relative importance of structural and functional social relationships for quality of life (QoL) and the extent to which diagnosed chronic disease modifies these associations.
methodsMultivariate linear regression was used to investigate time-lagged associations between structural and functional measures of social relationships and QoL assessed 5 years apart by CASP-19, in 5925 Whitehall II participants (mean age 61, SD 6.0). Chronic disease was clinically verified coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes or cancer.
resultsSocial relationships-QoL associations were consistent across disease status (P-values for interaction: 0.15-0.99). Larger friend network (β = 1.9, 95% CI 1.5-2.3), having a partner (β = 1.2, 95% CI 0.5-1.7), higher confiding support (β = 2.2, 95% CI 1.8-2.7) and lower negative aspects of close relationships (β = 3.3, 95% CI 2.8-3.8) were independently related to improved QoL in old age. The estimated difference in QoL due to social relationships was equivalent to up to 0.5 SD of the CASP-19 score and was stronger than the effect of chronic disease (coronary heart disease β = 2.0, 95% CI 1.4-2.6).
conclusionsWe found that beneficial aspects of social relationships in relation to QoL were, in order of importance: avoiding negative aspects of close relationships, having confiding support, having a wide network of friends and having a partner. These associations were not modified by chronic disease. Thus, despite inevitable physical deterioration, we may be able to enhance a satisfying late life by optimizing our social relationships.
Indexed as
Identifiers
26143057What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.