Comparison of Social Participation between Older Females and Males in Tehran

Creating the best state of social participation is one of the most important goals of rehabilitation for older people. This study has investigated the social participation of older people in Tehran to provide a basis for effective interventions in the treatment of these people.

This descriptive/analytical cross-sectional study used a non-probability sampling method to target 150 older adults who had referred to local community centers across Tehran.  The Assessment of life habits (LIFE-H) was used to examine issues related to social participation. The data were analyzed by implementing the Mann-Whitney test, Kruskal-Wallis, and Spearman correlation test.

There was a significant difference between the mean scores of social participation in the age groups (P = 0.016) and place of residence (P = 0.001), but there was no significant difference in different genders (P = 0.097).

The results show that creating appropriate conditions and reducing age and gender-related risk factors can lead to an increase in the health of older adults and eventually the health of society as a whole.