Development of an instrument for community-level health related social capital among Japanese older people: The JAGES Project.
BACKGROUND
We developed and validated an instrument to measure community-level social capital based on data derived from older community dwellers in Japan.


METHODS
We used cross-sectional data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, a nationwide survey involving 123,760 functionally independent older people nested within 702 communities (i.e., school districts). We conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on survey items to determine the items in a multi-dimensional scale to measure community social capital. Internal consistency was checked with Cronbach's alpha. Convergent construct validity was assessed via correlating the scale with health outcomes.


RESULTS
From 53 candidate variables, 11 community-level variables were extracted: participation in volunteer groups, sports groups, hobby activities, study or cultural groups, and activities for teaching specific skills; trust, norms of reciprocity, and attachment to one's community; received emotional support; provided emotional support; and received instrumental support. Using factor analysis, these variables were determined to belong to three sub-scales: civic participation (eigenvalue = 3.317, α = 0.797), social cohesion (eigenvalue = 2.633, α = 0.853), and reciprocity (eigenvalue = 1.424, α = 0.732). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated the goodness of fit of this model. Multilevel Poisson regression analysis revealed that civic participation score was robustly associated with individual subjective health (Self-Rated Health: prevalence ratio [PR] 0.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.94-0.98; Geriatric Depression Scale [GDS]: PR 0.95; 95% CI, 0.93-0.97). Reciprocity score was also associated with individual GDS (PR 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96-1.00). Social cohesion score was not consistently associated with individual health indicators.


CONCLUSIONS
Our scale for measuring social capital at the community level might be useful for future studies of older community dwellers.
Department of Social Welfare, Nihon Fukushi University, Aichi, Japan; Center for Well-being and Society, Nihon Fukushi University, Nagoya, Japan. Electronic address: masa-s@n-fukushi.ac.jp.
Masashige
M
Saito
Department of Health and Social Behavior, School of Public Health, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Naoki
N
Kondo
Department of International and Community Oral Health, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, Sendai, Japan.
Jun
J
Aida
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Ichiro
I
Kawachi
Department of International and Community Oral Health, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, Sendai, Japan.
Shihoko
S
Koyama
Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Shizuoka, Japan.
Toshiyuki
T
Ojima
Center for Well-being and Society, Nihon Fukushi University, Nagoya, Japan; Center for Preventive Medical Sciences, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan; Center for Gerontology and Social Science, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Aichi, Japan.
Katsunori
K
Kondo
D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D066270:Social Capital; D058992:Social Participation; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D035502:Trust
Community level; Factorial validity; Older people; Reliability; Social capital