Active ageing and institutionalization. Factors explaining leisure activity level among older adults living in nursing homes

FERNANDEZ-MAYORALAS, G.; ROJO-PEREZ, F.; FORJAZ, M.J.; PRIETO FLORES, M.E.; RODRIGUEZ-BLAZQUEZ, C.; MARTÍN-GARCÍA, S.; MARTINEZ-MARTIN, P.; ROJO-ABUIN, J. M.

Congreso; ISQOLS XI World Conference "Discovering new frontiers in quality of life research"; 2012

Introduction and objectives: Leisure activities could be an important source of satisfaction and personal wellbeing in later life. This paper aims to obtain a typoloy of institutionalized older adults living in nursing homes according to leisures activities, and to identify factors explaining their level of leisure activities.Data and methodss: Two samples were used: 234 older adults without dementia (2008) and 525 with dementia (2010). Sociodemographic, economic, family and social network, and health conditions were used as independent variables, Cluster analysis was applied with leisure activities (physical, passive,  cultural and social) to classify people into groups, and discriminant analysis to validate the obtained clusters. Multinomial regression models werea applied to identify factors associated with the probability of an individual of belonging to a specific level of leisuree activity. Results: Institutionalized older adults were classified as: active (27%), moderately active (35%) and inactive people (38%). In the final regression model, a lower level of activity was associated with poor scores in cognition, self perceived health status and functional ability, lower number of contacts and friends, and older ages.Conclusions: Declining physical and  mental health, weakening family and social ties, and loss of functional abilities that lead to institutionalization, are the main barrier to active ageing.