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The use of assistive devices and social engagement among older adults: heterogeneity by type of social engagement and gender

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Abstract

Little is known about the relationship between the use of assistive devices for functional loss and social engagement. This study investigated whether wearing assistive devices (dentures and hearing aids) is associated with social engagement among older adults in South Korea. Potential heterogeneity by type of social engagement (informal social contact versus formal social activity) and gender was also examined. This study analyzed data from 3725 individuals aged 65 or older collected over the course of 6 waves of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA) from 2008 to 2018 (2150 women and 1575 men). Individual fixed effects models were used to account for unobserved individual-level heterogeneity that could confound the relationship between wearing assistive devices and social engagement. The fixed effects estimates showed that wearing assistive devices is associated with a decrease in formal social activity (b =  − 0.034 for dentures and b =  − 0.077 for hearing aids), but not informal social contact. Gender-stratified fixed effects revealed that the association between wearing assistive devices and social engagement is statistically significant only for men. In men, wearing assistive devices is associated with a decrease in formal social activity (b =  − 0.049 for denture and b =  − 0.095 hearing aids). The findings of this study suggest that wearing assistive devices may reduce the formal social activity of older adults, particularly men. Policymakers should consider developing interventions to help older adults overcome the stigma associated with assistive devices, which can hinder their social integration.

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Data availability

The KLoSA data are publicly available from their website (https://survey.keis.or.kr/klosa/klosa01.jsp).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Policy and Management, Korea University, Room 367, B-Dong Hana-Science Building, 145 Anam-Ro, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    HyunJee Park & Jinho Kim

  2. Interdisciplinary Program in Precision Public Health, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Jinho Kim

  3. Center for Demography of Health and Aging, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Jinho Kim

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  1. HyunJee Park
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  2. Jinho Kim
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Jinho Kim and HyunJee Park contributed equally to the research. The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Correspondence to Jinho Kim.

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Park, H., Kim, J. The use of assistive devices and social engagement among older adults: heterogeneity by type of social engagement and gender. GeroScience 46, 1385–1394 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-023-00910-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-023-00910-6

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