The number of leisure-time activities and risk of functional disability among Japanese older population: the JAGES cohort

Evidence-based prevention of functional disability is a pressing issue for the health among the older population, due to the rapidly global aging. This study aimed to examine the association between leisure-time activities and the risk of functional disability. In a longitudinal prospective cohort study, we recruited 50,286 Japanese men and women aged > 65 years who did not have functional disability at the baseline in 2010-2011, with a median follow-up of 5.8 years. We examined the association between 24 leisure-time activities and the risk of developing functional disability. Cox proportional hazards regressions were used to examine the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for functional disability. A total of 10,631 persons (4,497 men and 6,134 women) newly developed functional disability. The number of leisure-time activities was inversely associated with the risk of functional disability. With reference to no activity, the multivariable HRs (95% CIs) were 0.89 (0.82-0.97) for one activity, 0.72 (0.67-0.78) for two to four activities, and 0.66 (0.58-0.74) for five or more activities (P for trend, <0.001) for men, and for women, the corresponding HRs were 0.84 (0.78-0.90), 0.77 (0.72-0.82), and 0.70 (0.62-0.79), (P for trend, <0.001). Further, even lower-loading leisure-time activities such as computer for men and handicrafts for women, were also associated with a reduced risk of functional disability. Our study suggests the importance of engaging in various leisure-time activities among the older population.