The Relationship between Health and Community across Aging Cohorts

Table 2

Social capital characteristics by cohort.

	65–74 yrs; (𝑁=1233)  (%)	75–84 yrs; (𝑁=845)  (%)	85+ yrs; (𝑁=266)  (%)	𝜒^2 (df)^a	𝑃
SC: cohesion				16.97 (6)	0.009
Strongly disagree; Disagree; Agree; Strongly agree	1; 6; 60; 34	0; 4; 64; 31	2; 9; 58; 31
SC: support				15.84 (6)	0.015
Never/rarely; Sometimes; Often; Always	11; 26; 32; 31	11; 22; 28; 38	15; 22; 27; 36
SC: Trust				5.32	0.503
Strongly disagree; Disagree; Agree; Strongly agree	2; 10; 62; 26	2; 9; 66; 23	1; 8; 62; 29
SC: participation				25.67	0.177
0; 1; 2; 3+	44; 26; 15; 15	45; 26; 13; 16	49; 27; 14; 10
SC: telephone interaction				5.87	0.438
Once a week; Few times a week; Once a day; Several times a day	10; 25; 23; 42	12; 28; 22; 38	10; 27; 25; 38

aThe Kruskal-Wallis statistic, a test of rank for nonparametric samples, was also conducted for all social capital items to examine differences in the 3 groups. Results indicated statistical differences for support (KW = 6.59, df = 2, and 𝑃=0.04), but no differences for cohesion, trust, and participation (cohesion: KW = 1.58, df = 2, and 𝑃=0.46; trust: KW = 1.66, df = 2, and 𝑃=0.44; telephone interaction: KW = 3.71, df = 2, and 𝑃=0.16). In the case of support, the cohort of 65 to 74 was ranked the highest for support (rank sum = 1,240,000), followed by those who are 75 to 84 (rank sum = 887,372), and last for those who are 85 and older (rank sum = 251,588).