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The European Journal of Public Health 1992 2(1):16-23; doi:10.1093/eurpub/2.1.16
© 1992 by European Journal of Public Health
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Original Articles

Social Network, Social Support and Regular Leisure-time Physical Activity in Elderly Men

A Population Study of Men Born in 1914, Malmö, Sweden

B. S. Hanson and S.-O. Isacsson

Department of Community Health Sciences - Malmö, Lund University, Malmö General Hospital S-214 01 MALMO, Sweden

We examined the associations among different aspects of social network and social support and regular leisure-time physical activity. The study sample (N = 621) comprised a random half of all male residents in Malmo, Sweden, born in 1914. The response rate was 80.5%. Eight conceptually differentiated aspects of social networks and social support were measured. All social network indices and two of the four social support indices were associated with regular physical activity (OR 1.9–3.5 and 1.7–2.1, respectively). After adjustment for medical disorders, risk factors and risk behavior in multivariate analysis only minor reductions of the associations were noted. Men who reported being socially anchored, having many social contacts, feeling satisfied with their social participation, and having good material and informational support, more often took part in regular physical activity. Results from this study indicate that the health effect of social network and social support, at least in some part, could be mediated through physical activity. These new psychosocial determinants make it easier to characterize groups of people in need of regular physical activity, a finding of potential importance in the field of health promotion.

Keywords: Physical activity, social network, social support, elderly, population study


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