The Impact of Arthritis on Older Adults' Social and Leisure Participation

Research Objectives: 1. To compare the social and leisure participation of older adults with and without arthritis.
2. To explore what factors predict the likelihood of social and leisure restriction.
3. To characterize how individuals with arthritis engage with and respond to rehabilitation.

Design: The present study employed a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of the 2019 wave of the National Health and Aging Trends Study.

Setting: Participants resided in the general community.

Participants: A total of 4,043 community-dwelling adults aged 65+ were included. These participants were grouped by arthritis status: 2,969 reported receiving a diagnosis of arthritis and 1,070 did not.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: Social and leisure participation was characterized by engagement in the following activities: visiting with family/friends, attending clubs, classes, or other organized activities, going out for enjoyment, and doing one’s favorite activity. Participation was restricted if the activity was both meaningful to the person and impacted by their health. Restriction status for each activity was combined into a composite social and leisure restriction score and analyzed dichotomously. For the arthritis subgroup, measures of rehabilitation duration, goals, and functional impact were analyzed.

Results: Individuals with arthritis experienced significantly (p > .001) more restriction in social and leisure activities (n = 953, 31.12%) compared to those without arthritis (n = 209, 19.32%). However, when accounting for sociodemographic and other health factors, arthritis did not remain a significant independent predictor of restriction (p = .816). Of those with arthritis, only a small proportion (n = 750, 25.60%) received rehabilitation in the last year. Rehabilitation was most frequently 2-3 months in duration (n = 450, p = 62.88%). Most individuals reported functional improvement during rehabilitation (n = 514, 72.04%), and goal attainment upon discharge (n = 417, 77.39%).

Conclusions: These results support providing targeted social and leisure interventions for older adults with arthritis, as well as prioritizing symptomatology, rather than diagnosis, in assessing the likelihood of performance deficits in these occupations.

Author(s) Disclosures: We have no known conflicts of interest to disclose.