Association between Social Networks, Demographics, and Quality of Life among the Elderly in Latvia

Objectives
Population ageing refers to the increasing proportion of older individuals within a population, which is a global challenge. Social well-being is one of the components of healthy and active ageing and a determinant of elderly people’s quality of life (QoL). The aim of this study was to identify social well-being factors associated with QoL.

Materials and Methods
Data from wave 9 of the “Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)”, collected in 2022, were used. QoL was assessed using the Control, Autonomy, Self-realization, and Pleasure scale (CASP-12). Characteristics of social network (SW), including SW size, satisfaction with SW, social integration index, and social connectedness index, were analyzed based on self-reported questionnaires. The respondents were categorized into three age groups: pre-retirement age (50–63 years), retirement age (64–74 years), and late retirement age (75+ years). Linear regression was applied to identify factors significantly associated with QoL. Possible collinearity between all factors was tested. Results were considered statistically significant if p<0.05.

Results
A total of 1676 respondents were included in this study (mean age 68.25 ± 10.25 years), 61.7 % were females (n = 1034). Linear regression showed that older age group had a significant negative effect on QoL (β = −0.213, p < 0.001). Satisfaction with SW (β = 0.304, p < 0.001) showed the strongest positive effect. The social integration index (β = 0.181, p < 0.001) and social connectedness index (β = 0.185, p = 0.002) were also significant positive predictors of QoL. Gender (β = −0.20, p = 0.370) and SW size (β = −0.045, p = 0.470) did not show statistically significant effects. Collinearity diagnostics suggested potential multicollinearity between the social connectedness index and SW size.

Conclusions
Older age has a negative impact on the QoL, while satisfaction with SW, social integration and connectedness positively influences it. Gender and SW size are not significant factors, but potential multicollinearity requires further careful analysis.