Correlates of engaging in sports and exercise volunteering among older adults in Japan

Taishi Tsuji,Mitsuya Yamakita,Satoru Kanamori,Ayane Sato,Meiko Yokoyama,Katsunori Kondo,Yasuhiro Miyaguni

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-07688-1

Abstract

This study aimed to identify factors associated with engaging in sports and exercise volunteering among older adults. We used cross-sectional data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES), a nationwide mail survey of 20,877 older adults from 60 municipalities. Multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the correlation between engaging in sports and exercise volunteering and 39 variables classified into five factors: (1) demographic and biological, (2) behavioral, (3) psychological, cognitive, and emotional, (4) social and cultural, and (5) environmental factors. Among the analyzed samples, 1580 (7.6%) participants volunteered a few times/year or more often. Factors that showed positive association with the volunteering were older age, a current drinking habit, excellent self-rated health, high proportion of sports group participants in a living area, low municipal population density, and rich social and cultural features (i.e., social cohesion, support, network, and participation). Meanwhile, those that had a negative association were women, low level of education, deteriorated instrumental activities of daily living, having a past or current smoking habit, poor self-rated health, and depressive symptoms. We clarified the characteristics of the population that is more likely to participate in sports and exercise volunteering as well as those of the population that is less likely to participate and requires support.

Highlights

This study aimed to identify factors associated with engaging in sports and exercise volunteering among older adults
Among the 20,877 analyzed participants, 1580 (7.6%) engaged in sports and exercise volunteering a few times/ year or more often
In the model 1, women, lower level of educational (< 10 years), past and current smoking habit, poor Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), poor or very poor self-rated health, and mild to severe depressive symptoms were negatively associated with engaging in the volunteering

Summary

Introduction

This study aimed to identify factors associated with engaging in sports and exercise volunteering among older adults. Most of the prior studies have reported the characteristics of younger adults engaging in volunteer activities in a specific club, sports event, or region[13–15] In these reports, associations with various factors, including demographic, behavioral, psychological, social, and environmental factors, were examined; the results showed that, for example, being a male, having a higher educational background, and a richer social network are positively associated with engagement in sports and exercise v olunteering[13–15]. This study aimed (1) to clarify the prevalence of sports and exercise volunteering and its specific activities and (2) to identify demographic, biological, behavioral, psychological, emotional, social, and environmental factors associated with engaging in sports and exercise volunteering, using data from a largescale cohort of older adults in Japan across multiple regions. The study will clarify the characteristics of those who are likely to participate in these volunteer activities, which will suggest avenues for efficient dissemination

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