Social Participation and Related Factors in Older Adult Women

 Social participation is one of the most important factors in the health of the elderly and also the main goal of health-related interventions. The purpose of this study was to assess social participation and its related factors in the elderly women population.

 This cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 women aged 60 and older in Hamadan, Iran, in 2020. The samples were selected by a simple random sampling method and according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. A demographic questionnaire, Women’s Social Participation Factors Questionnaire, and mini-mental state examination were completed, and data were obtained from the participants by trained questionnaires.

 The mean social participation score was 70.8±10.7, and scores ranged from 0 to 120. The level of social participation was moderate in 82% of the participants, weak and insufficient in 16.3%, and strong in 1.7% of participants. The obtained results indicated that 39% of the participants were employed before the elderly, and 22.67% had regular employment in old age. There were different types of occupation among this group: 30.33% had paid jobs, 23.67% voluntary jobs, 62% religious activities, and 76% were jobless. Moreover, a significant difference was observed between social participation and elderly employment history (P<0.01), level of education (P=0.01), and regular physical activity (P=0.03).

 The social participation of elderly women was found to be mostly moderate in this study, and people with higher education, regular physical activity, and a vocational history before old age had better social participation.