Development of an instrument for community-level health related social capital among Japanese older people: The JAGES Project

Masashige Saito; Naoki Kondo; Jun Aida; Ichiro Kawachi; Shihoko Koyama; Toshiyuki Ojima; Katsunori Kondo

doi:10.1016/j.je.2016.06.005

Development of an instrument for community-level health related social capital among Japanese older people: The JAGES Project

J Epidemiol. 2017 May;27(5):221-227. doi: 10.1016/j.je.2016.06.005. Epub 2017 Feb 4.

Authors

Masashige Saito¹, Naoki Kondo², Jun Aida³, Ichiro Kawachi⁴, Shihoko Koyama³, Toshiyuki Ojima⁵, Katsunori Kondo⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Social Welfare, Nihon Fukushi University, Aichi, Japan; Center for Well-being and Society, Nihon Fukushi University, Nagoya, Japan. Electronic address: masa-s@n-fukushi.ac.jp.
² Department of Health and Social Behavior, School of Public Health, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
³ Department of International and Community Oral Health, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, Sendai, Japan.
⁴ Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
⁵ Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Shizuoka, Japan.
⁶ Center for Well-being and Society, Nihon Fukushi University, Nagoya, Japan; Center for Preventive Medical Sciences, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan; Center for Gerontology and Social Science, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Aichi, Japan.

Abstract

Background: We developed and validated an instrument to measure community-level social capital based on data derived from older community dwellers in Japan.

Methods: We used cross-sectional data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, a nationwide survey involving 123,760 functionally independent older people nested within 702 communities (i.e., school districts). We conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on survey items to determine the items in a multi-dimensional scale to measure community social capital. Internal consistency was checked with Cronbach's alpha. Convergent construct validity was assessed via correlating the scale with health outcomes.

Results: From 53 candidate variables, 11 community-level variables were extracted: participation in volunteer groups, sports groups, hobby activities, study or cultural groups, and activities for teaching specific skills; trust, norms of reciprocity, and attachment to one's community; received emotional support; provided emotional support; and received instrumental support. Using factor analysis, these variables were determined to belong to three sub-scales: civic participation (eigenvalue = 3.317, α = 0.797), social cohesion (eigenvalue = 2.633, α = 0.853), and reciprocity (eigenvalue = 1.424, α = 0.732). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated the goodness of fit of this model. Multilevel Poisson regression analysis revealed that civic participation score was robustly associated with individual subjective health (Self-Rated Health: prevalence ratio [PR] 0.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.94-0.98; Geriatric Depression Scale [GDS]: PR 0.95; 95% CI, 0.93-0.97). Reciprocity score was also associated with individual GDS (PR 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96-1.00). Social cohesion score was not consistently associated with individual health indicators.

Conclusions: Our scale for measuring social capital at the community level might be useful for future studies of older community dwellers.

Keywords: Community level; Factorial validity; Older people; Reliability; Social capital.

MeSH terms

Aged
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diagnostic Self Evaluation
Factor Analysis, Statistical
Female
Geriatric Assessment
Health Status*
Humans
Japan / epidemiology
Male
Population Surveillance
Psychometrics / instrumentation*
Psychometrics / methods
Reproducibility of Results
Residence Characteristics
Social Capital*
Social Participation*
Socioeconomic Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires*
Trust

Grants and funding

R01 AG042463/AG/NIA NIH HHS/United States