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A longitudinal study of social connections and central obesity in aging women and men in Canada Madani Civi, Rana

Abstract

It is known that social connections can influence morbidity and mortality, and may alter physiological risk factors including adiposity. However, the causal link between different social connections and central adiposity of women and men is unknown. To address existing knowledge gaps, this project had two objectives: (1) systematically review evidence on the impact of social connection transitions on obesity outcomes in aging adults from a gender perspective and (2) investigate whether changes in different social connections result in changes in waist circumference (WC) among middle-aged and older adults in Canada over time, with a focus on gender differences. My first study systematically searched five bibliographic databases and reference lists of relevant reviews and papers. I screened for longitudinal studies examining changes in marital status, living arrangements, social participation, and social networks in relation to obesity outcomes and I found 41,910 titles; I read 252 full texts and included only 7 relevant studies. All studies were form the United States and focused on marital transitions. Overall, marriage was found to significantly increase body mass index (BMI) for both genders, while transitioning out of marriage through widowhood or divorce led to decreases in weight, WC, and BMI. My second longitudinal, secondary analysis study used repeated data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA, 2012-21). I used multivariable random coefficient regression to assess changes in marital status, living arrangements, and social participation (baseline to follow-up 1) in relation to changes in WC (follow-up 1 to follow-up 2), and adjusted models for WC at follow-up 1 and known confounders; my analysis was stratified by sex. Among men, becoming divorced was significantly associated with change in WC (1.45 cm [0.14, 2.75]); this effect was reversed for men becoming widowed [-1.41 [-2.85, 0.03]. Decreased social participation was significantly associated with WC among women (0.47 cm [0.11, 0.83]). Results for changes in living arrangement and WC were null but directions differed by gender. My thesis demonstrated that specific changes in several social connections, particularly marital transitions, may be determinants of central obesity in aging adults, and effects are gendered.

Item Metadata

Title
A longitudinal study of social connections and central obesity in aging women and men in Canada
Creator
Madani Civi, Rana
Supervisor
Conklin, Annalijn
Publisher
University of British Columbia
Date Issued
2024
Description
It is known that social connections can influence morbidity and mortality, and may alter physiological risk factors including adiposity. However, the causal link between different social connections and central adiposity of women and men is unknown. To address existing knowledge gaps, this project had two objectives: (1) systematically review evidence on the impact of social connection transitions on obesity outcomes in aging adults from a gender perspective and (2) investigate whether changes in different social connections result in changes in waist circumference (WC) among middle-aged and older adults in Canada over time, with a focus on gender differences. My first study systematically searched five bibliographic databases and reference lists of relevant reviews and papers. I screened for longitudinal studies examining changes in marital status, living arrangements, social participation, and social networks in relation to obesity outcomes and I found 41,910 titles; I read 252 full texts and included only 7 relevant studies. All studies were form the United States and focused on marital transitions. Overall, marriage was found to significantly increase body mass index (BMI) for both genders, while transitioning out of marriage through widowhood or divorce led to decreases in weight, WC, and BMI. My second longitudinal, secondary analysis study used repeated data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA, 2012-21). I used multivariable random coefficient regression to assess changes in marital status, living arrangements, and social participation (baseline to follow-up 1) in relation to changes in WC (follow-up 1 to follow-up 2), and adjusted models for WC at follow-up 1 and known confounders; my analysis was stratified by sex. Among men, becoming divorced was significantly associated with change in WC (1.45 cm [0.14, 2.75]); this effect was reversed for men becoming widowed [-1.41 [-2.85, 0.03]. Decreased social participation was significantly associated with WC among women (0.47 cm [0.11, 0.83]). Results for changes in living arrangement and WC were null but directions differed by gender. My thesis demonstrated that specific changes in several social connections, particularly marital transitions, may be determinants of central obesity in aging adults, and effects are gendered.
Genre
Thesis/Dissertation
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2024-08-30
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0445260
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/89114
Degree
Master of Science - MSc
Program
Pharmaceutical Sciences
Affiliation
Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of
Degree Grantor
University of British Columbia
Graduation Date
2024-11
Campus
UBCV
Scholarly Level
Graduate
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International