Want To Live Longer? Stay Sociable, Study Says
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 — Seniors who stay socially engaged are much more likely to have longer lives, a new study says.
Social engagement among seniors is associated with a lower risk of death, when compared to seniors who are loners, according to findings published May 21 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Such social engagement includes interacting with others, participating in sports or hobby groups or doing charity work, researchers said.
“Staying socially active is more than a lifestyle choice. It is closely linked to healthier aging and longevity,” lead researcher Dr. Ashraf Abugroun, an assistant professor at the University of California - San Francisco, said in a news release.
For the study, researchers tracked nearly 2,300 Americans 60 and older taking part in an ongoing study of health and retirement. The participants all came from the 2016 wave of the study.
As part of the project, participants filled out questionnaires tracking their lifestyles, including their social activities.
Researchers broke the seniors into three groups based on whether they had high, moderate or low social engagement, then analyzed whether their sociability had any bearing on their health or longevity.
The results showed that high and moderate social engagement both lowered the risk of death, by 42% and 47%, compared to low sociability.
Specific types of social engagement predicted a reduced risk of dying, including:
-
51% lower risk for volunteer or charity work.
-
28% lower risk with participating in social or sports clubs.
-
18% lower risk if seniors played with their grandkids.
Staying social appears to slow down a person’s biological aging, researchers said. It also promotes more physical activity among seniors, providing them a health boost.
“These results underscore how participating in community life contributes to better health in older adults,” Abugroun said.
Sources
- Wiley, news release, May 21, 2025
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted May 2025
Read this next
Hearing Aids Are a Boon To Social Life, Study Finds
THURSDAY, July 3, 2025 — Some folks won’t use hearing aids because they’re worried the devices will make them look old or get in the way of their social...
Teen Drivers Spend A Fifth Of The Time Looking At Their Smartphone, Study Says
THURSDAY, July 3, 2025 — About a fifth of the time, a teenage driver is looking at their smartphone rather than the road or their rearview, a new study says. Teen drivers...
Judge Blocks Layoffs at U.S. Health Department
WEDNESDAY, July 2, 2025 — A federal judge has stopped the Trump administration from implementing more layoffs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.