During later life, inadequate social interactions may be associated with worse quality of life in older adults. Rural older adults are prone to developing unhealthy lifestyles related to social activities, which can lead to a poorer quality of life than that enjoyed by older adults living in urban areas. This study aimed to describe longitudinal changes in social activity participation and health-related quality of life among rural older adults, exploring potential associations with changes to in-person social activity over four years. We used prospective community-based cohort data from the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (KSHAP) collected between December 2011 and January 2016. The sample included 525 older adults who completed the measure of health-related quality of life. Our results showed a significant change in health-related quality of life according to changes in participation in meeting with friends. Even though an individual’s participation in other social activities did not show significant differences in health-related quality of life, our findings imply that in-person social activities may be an important resource to encourage participation in physical activities and to develop other positive outcomes, such as a sense of belonging or satisfaction with later life, among rural older adults.

中文翻译：

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韩国农村老年人的社会活动与健康相关的生活质量：4年纵向分析。

在晚年生活中，社交互动不足可能会导致老年人的生活质量下降。农村老年人倾向于发展与社交活动有关的不健康生活方式，与生活在城市地区的老年人相比，这可能导致生活质量较差。这项研究旨在描述农村老年人社会活动参与和健康相关生活质量的纵向变化，探索四年内与个人社交活动变化的潜在关联。我们使用了从2011年12月至2016年1月期间收集的韩国社会生活，健康与老龄化项目（KSHAP）的前瞻性社区队列数据。该样本包括525位完成与健康相关的生活质量评估的老年人。我们的研究结果表明，与参加朋友见面会有所不同，与健康相关的生活质量也发生了显着变化。即使个人参与其他社交活动并未显示出与健康相关的生活质量的显着差异，但我们的研究结果表明，面对面的社交活动可能是鼓励参加体育活动并发展其他积极成果的重要资源，例如是农村老年人的一种归属感或对晚年生活的满足感。