title: Does social capital affect the incidence of functional disability in older Japanese? A prospective population-based cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent increases in numbers of older people have been accompanied by increases in those with functional disability. No study has examined the association between community social capital and the onset of functional disability.
  
  
  METHODS
  The association between community social capital and the onset of functional disability was examined using data from the Aichi Gerontological Evaluation Study, a prospective cohort established in 2003 in Japan. Perceptions of community social capital (indicators of social cohesion such as trust of others and extent of social participation) in 6953 men and 7636 women aged 65 years or older were surveyed. Multilevel survival analysis using the discrete-time hazard model was applied.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During 4-year follow-up, onset of functional disability occurred in 759 men and 1146 women. Women living in communities with higher mistrust had 1.68 (95% CI 1.14 to 2.49) times higher OR of onset of disability, even after adjusting for covariates. Mediators did not substantially change this association. Lack of social participation seemed to affect the health of women, though the effect was marginal (OR for covariates adjusted model =1.12 (95% CI 0.96 to 1.31)). There were no significant ORs among men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lower community social capital was associated with higher incidence of onset of functional disability among older women but not among men. Community-based interventions to promote social capital may be useful for preventing functional disability of older Japanese women.
authors: Department of International and Community Oral Health, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, 4-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan. j-aida@umin.ac.jp
authors: Jun
authors: J
authors: Aida
authors: Katsunori
authors: K
authors: Kondo
authors: Ichiro
authors: I
authors: Kawachi
authors: S V
authors: SV
authors: Subramanian
authors: Yukinobu
authors: Y
authors: Ichida
authors: Hiroshi
authors: H
authors: Hirai
authors: Naoki
authors: N
authors: Kondo
authors: Ken
authors: K
authors: Osaka
authors: Aubrey
authors: A
authors: Sheiham
authors: Georgios
authors: G
authors: Tsakos
authors: Richard G
authors: RG
authors: Watt
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D044466:Asian People; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D055361:Multilevel Analysis; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012931:Social Environment; D058992:Social Participation; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D035502:Trust