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Table 1 Descriptive characteristics and social participation among elders, in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka (n = 1028). Counts (n) and percent (%)

From: Factors associated with social participation amongst elders in rural Sri Lanka: a cross-sectional mixed methods analysis

Factors

n (%)

Community Factors

 Community Type

  Plantation

573 (56)

  Village

339 (33)

  Mixed communities adjacent to the plantations

116 (11)

Sociodemographic Factors

 Gender

  Female

543 (53)

  Male

485 (47)

 Age (years)

  60–69

691 (67)

  70–79

267 (26)

  80 or more

70 (7)

 Ethnicity

  Tamil

691 (67)

  Sinhalese

337 (33)

 Marital status

  Married

628 (61)

  Unmarrieda

400 (39)

 Household composition

  Lives alone

60 (6)

  Couple living together

133 (13)

  Living with 1–3 others (excluding couples)

336 (33)

  5 or more members in household

499 (48)

 Education (years of Schooling)

  No formal schooling

254 (25)

  1–5

479 (47)

  6–12

295 (29)

 Engagement in paid work

  Yes

284 (28)

  No

744 (72)

 Activities of Daily Living (ADL)b

  Independent

883 (86)

  Requiring some help

145 (14)

 Concern about falling at social eventsc

  None-little

795 (77)

  Somewhat -Very

233 (23)

 Vision quality (self-reported)

  Poor vision or blind

560 (54)

  Good or excellent vision

468 (46)

 Depressiond

  Yes

361 (35)

  No

667 (65)

 Self-reported health statuse

  Low

551 (54)

  High

477 (46)

Family connectedness and traits

 Sociability scalef mean total score (SD)

20.2 (0.1)

 Satisfaction with contact with familyg

 

  Low

261 (25)

  High

767 (75)

Social participation (Outcome measure)

 Participation frequency (events per year)

  No/very low participation (< 3)

652 (63)

  Low participation (3–11)

132 (13)

  Medium participation (12–51)

111 (11)

  High participation (52+)

133 (13)

  1. aIncludes those who reported ‘never married’, ‘separated’, ‘widowed’ or ‘divorced’
  2. bBased on the Katz Scale [32]
  3. cBased on the question, “How concerned are you about falling when going out to a social event?”
  4. (Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES –I)) [33]
  5. dBased on a cut-off score of ≥3 (GDS7) [34]
  6. eDerived from responses to the question, “How satisfied are you with your health?”(Quality of Life Index (EQLI)) [35]
  7. fCheek and Bass sociability scale [36]
  8. gDerived from responses to question, “How satisfied are you with your contact with family and friends?” (Quality of Life Index (EQLI) [35]