The purpose of this study is to explore the prevalence and related factors of social engagement in the disabled elderly. Participants were 86 elderly ranging from 65 to 84 years of age with disability dwelling in Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Among them, socially engaged elderly were 23 people (26.7% of the participants). Seventeen of the 23 socially engaged elderly were mildly disabled (32.7% of the mild disability group). Four were moderately disabled (20.0% of the moderate disability group), and 2 were severely disabled elderly (14.3% of the severe disability group). Factors related to social engagement in the disabled elderly were examined using multiple logistic regression analysis. Results showed that self-rated health and psychological independence were significantly associated with social engagement in the disabled elderly. This result did not change even after adjusting for disability status level. These findings suggest that support in psychological aspects, such as self-rated health and psychological independence, may promote social engagement in the disabled elderly. 1. Introduction As life expectancy increases, the concept of “successful aging,” which means how to live a healthy, meaningful, and satisfactory life, is attracting more attention [1, 2]. Social engagement has been considered a major component of successful aging and an active involvement in life [3, 4]. It is also thought to be an important factor for the elderly to age successfully despite changes in life, such as changes in the living environment and health conditions [5, 6]. The definition of social engagement varies among researchers; personal interaction and participation in social activities [7], the maintenance of many social connections and a high level of participation in social activities [8], and making social and emotional connections with people and the community [5]. In this paper, we defined social engagement as “activities which require contact with society and interpersonal activity outside home,” based on Hashimoto et al.’s definition [9]. Recent studies suggest that active social engagement in the community-dwelling elderly contributes to physical and mental health [4, 10, 11], life expectancy [12], subjective well-being [6], self-rated health [13, 14], and life satisfaction [15]. In Europe and the United States, previous studies have already reported that active social engagement in the disabled elderly contributes to body functional status [16], cognitive function status [8], depressive symptoms [5, 17], and subjective well-being [18]. In
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