Social network and related factors in older people with sensory impairment in the community: Using principal component analysis.

AIM: Older people with sensory impairment are more likely to have smaller and weaker social network due to their reduced ability, which lowers their quality of life. However, there is little research on the social network in older people with sensory impairment, especially the related factors. The aim of the study was to explore the related factors of social network and to provide evidence for the improvement of social network to promote successful aging in older people with sensory impairment. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 374 participants for hearing and vision assessment and questionnaire survey in a community, Beijing. Data were collected and analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) and multiple logistic regression using IBM SPSS 25.0 software. RESULTS: PCA showed that there were six risk factors whose eigenvalues >1 were extracted, with a total variance of 56.555%. Multiple logistic regression analysis of principal component indicated that five factors including physical health factor, social interaction factor, psychological status factor, lifestyle factor, and family condition factor, were statistically significant (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The social network of older people with sensory impairment is relatively poor. Physical health factor, social interaction factor, psychological status factor, lifestyle factor, and family condition factor may be related factors. Medical staff should pay attention to physical, psychological and social characteristics of older people, especially with sensory impairment, to carry out necessary measures to improve social network and avoid social isolation.

Social participation in older people with hearing impairment in Chinese community: A latent profile analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Hearing impairment may lead to increased communication difficulties for older people, making their social participation less optimistic. However, there is little research on the social participation of older people with hearing impairment, especially based on the characteristics of their social participation. This study aimed to identify different social participation profiles in older people with hearing impairment and to explore sociodemographic characteristics, disease-related characteristics and psychosocial factors with different social participation profiles. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 300 older people with hearing impairment using the sociodemographic questionnaire, the Impact on Participation and Autonomy Questionnaire, the Lubben Social Network Scale-6, Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey and Geriatric Depression Scale-15 from May to August 2023 in a community of Beijing, China. Latent profile analysis was used to analyse the latent profiles of social participation in elderly with hearing impairment. Multiple logistic regression was used to explore the predictors of different profiles. RESULTS: The social participation of older people with hearing impairment in the community can be classified into three potential profiles: Profile 1 - high social participation group (76.05 %), Profile 2 - moderate social participation group (17.34 %), Profile 3 - low social participation group (6.61 %). Age, types of chronic diseases, self-reported health, severity of hearing impairment, social network, social support and depression were predictors of different profiles. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses should pay attention to the characteristics, depression, social network and support of older people with different hearing impairment to improve social participation in different profiles. IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: This was the first study exploring latent profiles of social participation in older people with hearing impairment. Insights from this study are useful for gerontological nursing to distinguish different profiles and further identify the characteristics of different profiles in older people with hearing impairment by characterizing the level of social participation in the community and better implement interventions according to profiles.