Social participation and loneliness among older adults in Yazd, Iran

Social participation among older people is associated with more practice of physical activities, improvement of cognitive skills and less feeling of loneliness. The primary purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the social participation and sense of loneliness among older adults in Yazd, an Iranian city that is known for its traditional values and religious people. The non-probability sample consisted of 200 elderly people. Data collection tool was a questionnaire, which was completed by a trained interviewer through face-to-face interview. The mean scores of social participation and loneliness feeling among participants were 17.29 +/- 5.62 (8-40) and 38.02 +/- 7.91 (16-80), respectively. From the participants, 79.8% had not participated in educational cultural and activities. Mostly reported barriers to social participation included transportation-related issues (57%), diseases and health problems (43.5%) and personal or family responsibility (36%). The best predictors of loneliness were demographic characteristics, followed by the total number of diseases/problems and the total number of barriers to social participation. Social participation itself was not a statistically significant predictor of loneliness. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.