Diversity in productive activities enhances life satisfaction among Japanese community-dwelling older adults: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Few studies have reported an association between diversity in productive activities and life satisfaction; hence, this cross-sectional study conducted in Japan aimed to clarify this association. We assessed the life satisfaction of 4,498 Japanese community-dwelling older adults engaged in productive activities (e.g., paid work, volunteering, taking care of children, and supporting others) using the Life Satisfaction Scale. We took the sum of the number of engaging productive activities as the diversity in productive activities score. A dose-response relationship was observed for each additional productive activity on life satisfaction. Participants who engaged in one, two, three, or four productive activities were more likely to have higher life satisfaction than those who did not engage; the odds ratios (95 % confidence intervals) were 1.19 (1.02–1.39), 1.19 (1.00–1.42), 1.71 (1.37–2.13), and 2.27 (1.58–3.27), respectively. Diversity in productive activities may enhance higher life satisfaction likelihood among Japanese community-dwelling older adults.