Social capital predicts accelerometry-measured physical activity among older adults in the U.S.: a cross-sectional study in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project

BACKGROUND: Older adults receive important health benefits from more robust social capital. Yet, the mechanisms behind these associations are not fully understood. Some evidence suggests that higher levels of social capital ultimately affect health through alterations in physical activity (PA), but most of this research has relied on self-reported levels of PA. The aim of this study was to determine whether components of social capital, including social network size and composition as well as the frequency of participation in various social and community activities, were associated with accelerometry-measured PA levels in a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling older adults (≥ 62 years). METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using data from the wrist accelerometry sub-study (n = 738) within Wave 2 of the National Social, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), a population-based longitudinal study that collects extensive survey data on the physical, cognitive, and social health of older adults. Participants’ physical activity was measured with a wrist accelerometer worn for 72 consecutive hours. We related seven, self-reported social relationship variables (network size, network proportion friends, and frequencies of socializing with friends and family, visiting with neighbors, attending organized group meetings, attending religious services, and volunteering) to accelerometer-measured PA (mean counts-per-minute) using multivariate linear regression analysis, while adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: Larger social networks (p = 0.042), higher network proportion friends (p = 0.013), more frequent visiting with neighbors (p = 0.009), and more frequent attendance at organized group meetings (p = 0.035) were associated with higher PA levels after controlling for demographic and health covariates. Volunteering was significant prior to adjusting for covariates. No significant associations were found between frequencies of socializing with friends and relatives or attendance at religious services and PA. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests social capital is significantly related to objectively measured PA levels among older adults, and that friendships as well as social participation in groups and with neighbors may be particularly pertinent to PA. These findings expand our understanding of and offer a potential mechanism linking social relationships and overall health among older adults. They also have implications for how we might motivate older adults to be more physically active. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-018-5664-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.