Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information

CiteULike is a free service for managing and discovering scholarly references - click here to get started.

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Aging and Health
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (3)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Giles, L. C.
Right arrow Articles by Andrews, G. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Giles, L. C.
Right arrow Articles by Andrews, G. R.
Right arrowPubmed/NCBI databases
Medline Plus Health Information
*Disabilities
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

The Effects of Social Networks on Disability in Older Australians

Lynne C. Giles

Flinders University, Australia, Lynne.Giles{at}rgh.sa.gov.au

Patricia A. Metcalf

The University of Auckland, New Zealand

Gary F. V. Glonek

The University of Adelaide, Australia

Mary A. Luszcz

Flinders University, Australia

Gary R. Andrews

Flinders University, Australia

Objective: To investigate the effects of total social networks and specific social net-works with children, relatives, friends, and confidants on disability in mobility and Nagi functional tasks. Methods: Six waves of data from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing were used. Data came from 1,477 participants aged 70 years or older. The effects of total social networks and those with children, relatives, friends, and confidants on transitions in disability status were analyzed using binary and multinomial logistic regression. Results: After controlling for a range of health, environmental, and personal factors, social networks with relatives were protective against developing mobility disability (OR = 0.89; 95% CI = 0.79 to 1.00) and Nagi disability (OR = 0.85; 95% CI = 0.74 to 0.96). Other social subnetworks did not have a consistent effect on the development of disability. Discussion: The effects of social relationships extend beyond disability in activities of daily living. Networks with relatives protect against disability in mobility and Nagi tasks.

Key Words: transitions • Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing • activity limitations • disability • social networks

Journal of Aging and Health, Vol. 16, No. 4, 517-538 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0898264304265778
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Epidemiol. Community HealthHome page
C. F Mendes de Leon
Why do friendships matter for survival?
J Epidemiol Community Health, July 1, 2005; 59(7): 538 - 539.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Epidemiol. Community HealthHome page
L. C Giles, G. F V Glonek, M. A Luszcz, and G. R Andrews
Effect of social networks on 10 year survival in very old Australians: the Australian longitudinal study of aging
J Epidemiol Community Health, July 1, 2005; 59(7): 574 - 579.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]