Zhi-Hao Li1, Xi-Ru Zhang1, Yue-Bin Lv2, Dong Shen1, Fu-Rong Li1, Wen-Fang Zhong1, Qing-Mei Huang1, Xian-Bo Wu1, Yi Zeng3, Xiang Gao4, Xiao-Ming Shi5, Chen Mao6. 1. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. 2. National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China. 3. Center for Study of Healthy Aging and Development Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China. 4. Nutritional Epidemiology Lab, Pennsylvania State University, Philadelphia, PA, USA. 5. National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China. Electronic address: shixm@chinacdc.cn. 6. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. Electronic address: maochen9@smu.edu.cn.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate associations between leisure activities, examining each activity separately and in combination, and all-cause mortality among the Chinese oldest-old (≥80 years) population. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Community-living, the oldest-old from 22 provinces in China. PARTICIPANTS: We included 30,070 Chinese individuals aged ≥80 years (mean age: 92.7 years) from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey from 1998 to 2014. MEASUREMENTS: Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate relationships between leisure activities and all-cause mortality, adjusting for covariates including sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, self-reported medical history, and other potential confounders. RESULTS: During 110,278 person-years of follow-up, 23,661 deaths were documented. Participants who engaged in watching TV or listening to the radio, playing cards or mah-jong, reading books or newspapers, gardening, keeping domestic animals or pets, or attending religious activities "almost every day" had a significantly lower mortality risk (adjusted hazard ratios ranged from 0.82 to 0.89; P < .01 for all) than did participants who "never" engaged in those activities. Furthermore, engagement in multiple leisure activities was associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality (P for the trend < .001). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Frequent participation in leisure activities might help decrease the risk of death in the Chinese oldest-old population. This finding has important implications for public health policy and encourages the incorporation of a broad range of leisure activities into the daily lives of oldest-old individuals.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate associations between leisure activities, examining each activity separately and in combination, and all-cause mortality among the Chinese oldest-old (≥80 years) population. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Community-living, the oldest-old from 22 provinces in China. PARTICIPANTS: We included 30,070 Chinese individuals aged ≥80 years (mean age: 92.7 years) from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey from 1998 to 2014. MEASUREMENTS: Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate relationships between leisure activities and all-cause mortality, adjusting for covariates including sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, self-reported medical history, and other potential confounders. RESULTS: During 110,278 person-years of follow-up, 23,661 deaths were documented. Participants who engaged in watching TV or listening to the radio, playing cards or mah-jong, reading books or newspapers, gardening, keeping domestic animals or pets, or attending religious activities "almost every day" had a significantly lower mortality risk (adjusted hazard ratios ranged from 0.82 to 0.89; P < .01 for all) than did participants who "never" engaged in those activities. Furthermore, engagement in multiple leisure activities was associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality (P for the trend < .001). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Frequent participation in leisure activities might help decrease the risk of death in the Chinese oldest-old population. This finding has important implications for public health policy and encourages the incorporation of a broad range of leisure activities into the daily lives of oldest-old individuals.
Authors: Matthew Baumgart; Heather M Snyder; Maria C Carrillo; Sam Fazio; Hye Kim; Harry Johns Journal: Alzheimers Dement Date: 2015-06-01 Impact factor: 21.566