Association of social capital at the individual level with physical activity in communities with high mortality in Korea

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the association of various dimensions of social capital at the individual level with physical activity. We used data from community health interviews conducted in 40 sub-municipal-level administrative units with high mortality from August to October in 2010, 2011 or 2012 for health projects in South Korea. The 8800 study subjects included 220 adults from each administrative unit, who were sampled systematically using the resident registration database. The physical activity level was defined according to the intensity, duration and frequency of self-reported physical activity. Social capital indicators were assessed with measures used in other health surveys or studies. Adjusting for gender, age, marital status, educational level, occupation, food security (a proxy for socio-economic status), administrative unit and self-rated health, we calculated the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of participating in physical activity based on various measures of social capital using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Social participation in both informal and formal organizations compared with no social participation, higher generalized trust compared with lower trust and higher perceived control at both the community and individual levels compared with lower perceived control at both levels increased the odds of being physically active [AOR = 1.25 (95% CI: 1.10-1.41), 1.36 (95% CI: 1.19-1.54) and 1.31 (95% CI: 1.17-1.48), respectively]. Various social capital measures at the individual level were found to be associated with physical activity independently of each other and of confounders in communities with high mortality in Korea.

Keywords: empowerment; generalized trust; social participation.