Volunteering is Associated with Delayed Mortality in Older People: Analysis of the Longitudinal Study of Aging

@article{Harris2005VolunteeringIA,
  title={Volunteering is Associated with Delayed Mortality in Older People: Analysis of the Longitudinal Study of Aging},
  author={Alex H. S. Harris and Carl E. Thoresen},
  journal={Journal of Health Psychology},
  year={2005},
  volume={10},
  pages={739 - 752}
}
The Longitudinal Study of Aging (LSOA) assessed the health and social functioning of a representative sample of 7527 American community-dwelling older people (> 70 years). We tested the hypothesis that frequent volunteering is associated with less mortality risk when the effects of socio-demographics, medical status, physical activity and social integration are controlled. We used Cox proportional hazards analyses to assess the unadjusted and adjusted associations between frequency of… 
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The beneficial effect of volunteering appeared to stop among respondents who stopped volunteering between waves, and the best outcomes were observed among those participating in higher numbers of activities, regardless of whether or not these were classed as formal or informal, and who felt appreciated for their work.

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Does volunteering moderate the relation between functional limitations and mortality?

Motives for volunteering are associated with mortality risk in older adults.

Replicating prior work, respondents who volunteered were at lower risk for mortality 4 years later, especially those who volunteered more regularly and frequently, but volunteering behavior was not always beneficially related to mortality risk: Those who volunteered for self-oriented reasons had a mortality risk similar to nonvolunteers.

Volunteering is prospectively associated with health care use among older adults.

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Collective social activity may be associated with a reduced risk for mortality and institutionalization in older people and further studies on the mechanisms underlying the association between social activity and health are needed.

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...

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