Study On The Relationship Between Individual Social Network And Individual Health Of The Elderly In Urban And Rural Communities

Background: China is the country with the largest elderly population in the world.According to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics,China's population over 60 years old was 249.49 million by the end of 2018,accounting for 17.9% of the total population.And the population over 65 years old was 166.58 million,accounting for 11.9% of the total population,an increase of 0.5 percentage points compared with 2017.The increasing trend of population aging in China has brought tremendous pressure to the society,and social network theory can provide us with a unique perspective to establish an effective network of government,community,family and the elderly,and give full play to the network resources of the elderly,so as to find a new way to promote the health of the elderly and achieve the goal of healthy aging in urban and rural communities.Objective:This paper evaluates the status of social network and individual health of the elderly in urban and rural communities,analyses the relationship between individual social network indicators and individual health indicators of the elderly,and explores the social network factors that play a role in the health of the elderly,so as to provide a new perspective for the formulation of scientific and appropriate strategies for the healthy aging of urban and rural communities.Method: On the basis of literature review and expert discussion,this study developed a social network questionnaire for the elderly,and selected an individual health questionnaire for the elderly who are currently used in the world.A multi-stage random sampling method was used to select the survey site and conduct the survey from September to October 2018.After the data collection was completed,EpiData 3.1 software was used to input the data,and SPSS23.0 was used to collate and analyze the data.Results:(1)Reliability and validity analysis of questionnaire The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the individual social network scale in this study is 0.880,which has good internal consistency and achieves a high level of reliability.In terms of dimensions,the Cronbach's alpha coefficient of health guard network is 0.909,the Cronbach's alpha coefficient of emotional support network is 0.912,the Cronbach's alpha coefficient of social participation network is 0.807,the Cronbach's alpha coefficient of social contact network is 0.746,and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient of social support network is 0.885,which all have good reliability.In terms of validity,the results of principal component analysis show that the cumulative contribution rate of the five common factors extracted in this study is 62.489%.The distribution of items in each dimension is reasonable.The questionnaire overall conforms to the questionnaire design,and the validity of the questionnaire basically meets the requirements.The Individual Health Scale uses the SF-36 scale,and its reliability and validity have been confirmed and affirmed by many studies at home and abroad.The Cronbach's ? coefficient of this scale is 0.950 in this study,which further proves that the scale has good reliability and validity.(2)Individual social networks of respondents In health guard network,68.1% of the elderly scored the highest score in 28-35,while only 1.1% of the elderly scored the lowest score in 7-13;in emotional support network,75.8% of the elderly scored 24-30,1.4% of the elderly scored 6-11;in social participation network,2.8% of the elderly scored 24-30,59.5% of the elderly scored 6-11;in social contact network,18.4% of the elderly scored 44-55.6.1% of the elderly scored 11-21 points;in social support network,71.8% of the elderly scored 21-25 points;1.7% of the elderly scored 5-10 points.(3)The impact of individual social network on the health of the elderly There was a strong correlation between the dimensions of individual social network and individual health(including self-perceived health,physical health and mental health)of the elderly in urban and rural communities(P < 0.001).Further regression analysis showed that there were some differences in the effects of each dimension on self-perceived health,physical health and mental health of the elderly in urban and rural communities.Health guard network has a positive impact on the physical and mental health of the elderly in urban communities,but has no significant impact on self-perceived health;and it has a positive impact on the self-perceived health and mental health of the elderly in rural communities,but has no significant impact on physical health.Emotional support network only has a positive impact on the mental health of the elderly in rural communities,but has no significant impact on the individual health of the elderly in urban communities,the physical and self-perceived health of the elderly in rural communities.Social participation network has a positive impact on the self-perceived health of the elderly in urban and rural communities,but it has no significant impact on physical health and mental health.Social contact network only has a positive impact on the physical health of the elderly in rural communities,but has no significant impact on the individual health of the elderly in urban communities and the self-perceived health and mental health of the elderly in rural communities.Social support network has a positive impact on the self-perceived health and mental health of the elderly in urban communities,but has no significant impact on physical health;it has a positive impact on the physical health of the elderly in rural communities,but has no significant impact on mental health and self-perceived health.Conclusion:(1)In this study,the elderly individual social network questionnaire and individual health questionnaire have good reliability and validity,can meet the research needs.(2)In this study,the scores of health care network,emotional support network and social support network of the elderly in urban and rural communities are generally higher,while the scores of social participation network are generally lower,and the scores of social communication network are generally concentrated in the middle section.In addition to the health care network,the other four dimensions of the social network of the elderly in urban communities are generally better than those in rural communities.(3)In terms of the relationship between individual social network and self-perceived health,social participation network and social support network have a positive impact on the self-perceived health of the elderly in urban communities,while social participation network and health guard network have a positive impact on the self-perceived health of the elderly in rural communities.(4)In terms of the relationship between individual social network and physical health,the health guard network has a positive impact on the physical health of the elderly in urban communities,while the social contact network and social support network have a positive impact on the physical health of the elderly in rural communities.(5)In terms of the relationship between individual social network and mental health,the health guard network and social support network have a positive impact on the mental health of the elderly in urban communities,while the health guard network and emotional support network have a positive impact on the mental health of the elderly in rural communities.