Table 1.
Descriptive characteristics and social participation among elders, in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka (n = 1028). Counts (n) and percent (%)
| 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) |
aIncludes those who reported ‘never married’, ‘separated’, ‘widowed’ or ‘divorced’
bBased on the Katz Scale [32]
cBased on the question, “How concerned are you about falling when going out to a social event?”
(Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES –I)) [33]
dBased on a cut-off score of ≥3 (GDS7) [34]
eDerived from responses to the question, “How satisfied are you with your health?”(Quality of Life Index (EQLI)) [35]
fCheek and Bass sociability scale [36]
gDerived from responses to question, “How satisfied are you with your contact with family and friends?” (Quality of Life Index (EQLI) [35]