Physical Activity and Social Network Contacts in Community Dwelling Older Adults

Maintaining social network contacts is an important and challenging factor in successful aging. This study examines how physical activity level is associated with network contacts in an interview survey of 6,596 adults 60 and over. The number of telephone calls, family gatherings, and visits with neighbors were used to measure social contacts. Physical activity was operationalized by the frequency and intensity of the five most common activities in the past month. Regression results demonstrated that gardening, walking, and biking were positively associated with all three measures of social contacts, even after controlling for sociodemographic, health and ADL factors. These findings suggest that social network contacts may be positively influenced by participation in physical activity. Reducing barriers to physical activity may be an appropriate strategy for promoting social network contacts in older individuals.