Abstract
ObjectiveSleep disturbances are great challenges to older adults’ health promotion. The study tested gender differences in the association between different dimensions of social capital and self-reported sleep duration of Chinese rural older adults.DesignThe data of rural older adults were extracted from a national cross-sectional survey of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) and analyzed in this study.SettingCLHLS covered 23 provinces in China.ParticipantsThe 6552 rural respondents aged ≥65 years old were involved.Main outcome measuresGeneralized trust, informal social participation, formal social participation and social support were used to assess social capital. Self-reported sleep duration was measured as health outcome.ResultsLow level of generalized trust had harmful effect on insufficient sleep (AOR 1.110, 95% CI 1.018-1.324), and having no formal or informal social participation was significantly positively associated with long sleep (AORformal 1.424, 95% CI 1.007-2.013; AORinformal 1.241, 95% CI 1.016-1.516). Rural older female adults with no emotional social support had higher odds of insufficient sleep (AOR 1.502, 95% CI 1.258-1.978). Meanwhile, both informal and formal social participation showed inverse association with long sleep for females.ConclusionsThis study found the relationship between social capital, sleep duration and the gender differences in Chinese rural older adults. More targeted sleep disturbance interventions could be taken in social capital of rural older adults, and gender differences should be considered when making social capital-embedded health promotion policies and interventions.
Highlights
Sleep has gradually become a focus of old adults’ health research for its impact on health
This study found the relationship between social capital, sleep duration and the gender differences in Chinese rural older adults
Results are displayed as ORs of change in sleep duration per unit increase in the original scale of generalized trust, visits and interaction with friends, participation of organized social activities, emotional social support, or instrumental social support a Adjusted for gender, age, education, marital status, current residential area, household annual income, living alone, and pension status b Adjusted for gender, age, education, marital status, current residential area, household annual income, living alone, pension status, smoking, alcohol drinking, and physical activity c Adjusted for gender, age, education, marital status, current residential area, household annual income, living alone, pension status, smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, sleep quality, body mass index (BMI), depression, activities of daily living (ADL), cognitive function, noncommunicable disease (NCD), and comorbidity
Summary
Sleep has gradually become a focus of old adults’ health research for its impact on health. Social capital refers to the association between individuals or groups, i.e. social networks, reciprocity, norms, trust and participation, and people could obtain resources and help from their social capital. Robbins (2019) found that short and long sleep duration were inversely related to measures of social capital, such as group memberships and a sense of neighborhood belonging, in adults in the Philadelphia area [12]. Another study showed poor neighborhood social capital was associated with insufficient sleep duration among rural Japanese adults [13]. In China, the association between social capital and sleep has been studied, and previous researches presented that higher level of social capital is associated with higher sleep quality [14, 15]. Few studies explored the association between social capital and sleep duration in China
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