ArticleHealth and quality of life outcomes2024
Active social engagement and health among older adults: assessing differences by cancer survivorship status.
Article in Health and quality of life outcomes, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Impact of physical activity and exercise training on health-related quality of life in older adults: an umbrella review.GeroScience · 2025Pooled it
- Return to work in elderly population with cancer.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Perceived social support and life engagement among older adults using thermal health tourism services: the moderating role of aging anxiety.Frontiers in health services · 2026Article
- The relationship between resilience, financial toxicity, and quality of life in patients with primary liver cancer: a cross-sectional study.BMC gastroenterology · 2025Article
- An updated synthesis of environmental factors influencing mobility and social participation in older adults: results from a scoping review.BMC public health · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe number of older adults who are cancer survivors is rapidly growing. Evidence is needed to inform interventions to support successful aging among older adults (including older adult cancer survivors). Active engagement with life, that is, spending time with family and/or close friends, may be related to health outcomes, but this concept remains understudied.
methodsWe used survey data to assess active engagement among older adults (ages 50 + years) from seven mid-Atlantic US states (n = 2,914), and geocoded their residence to collect collected measures of community availability of social interaction. Outcomes were physical and mental health-related quality of life (HRQoL), assessed with the SF-12. We used multivariable, multilevel linear regression to evaluate relationships between social interactions (i.e., "active engagement with life," or visiting with family and/or friends at least once per week and having at least three close friends, and community-level availability, measured with census tract-level park land and walkability and with county-level availability of social associations) and HRQoL. Finally, we explored differences in these relationships by recent cancer survivorship.
resultsOverall, 1,518 (52.3%) participants were actively engaged. Active engagement was associated with higher physical HRQoL (estimate = 0.94, standard error [SE] = 0.46, p = .04) and mental HRQoL (estimate = 2.10, SE = 0.46, p < .001). The relationship between active engagement and physical HRQoL was stronger for recent cancer survivors (estimate = 4.95, SE = 1.84, p < .01) than for the general population (estimate = 1.10, SE = 0.43, p = .01). Community-level availability of social interaction was not associated with HRQoL.
conclusionOur analysis demonstrated promising associations between active engagement with life and HRQoL among older adults, with large benefits for older cancer survivors. Additional research is needed on how active engagement is associated with better HRQoL, which can inform future policies and programs to optimize the aging process in the US.
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