The impact of social network characteristics on health among community‐dwelling elderly in South Korea: Application of social network analysis

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundOlder adults’ social network is associated with health and quality of life. This study examines the association between characteristics of social network (friendship network) and subjective well‐being of community‐dwelling older adults.MethodThis study was conducted between June 2015 to August 2015, with a total of 146 respondents. The contracture and density of the social network was analysed by using social network analysis. Additionally, in order to investigate the impact of social network on health, multiple liner regression analysis was used through Netminer 4.0 version. P values of less than 0.05 were considered to indicate statistical significance.ResultThe higher the out‐degree (376.161) and the in‐closeness (201.825), the better the health. On the other hand, the higher the in‐degree (‐279.167) and the out‐closeness (‐52.620), the poor the health. the higher the out‐degree (218.747) and the in‐closeness (170.075), the better the health. In addition, it was showed that religion had a negative effect on health, and the older adults with high level of education illustrated better health.ConclusionThe findings suggest that the higher out‐degree and in‐closeness intensity affect the health of older adults positively, but the higher the in‐degree and out‐closeness intensity affect the health negatively. Therefore, health professionals should use appropriate strategies to increase the strength of social networks in order to improve the health of the elderly living in the community.