The benefits of leisure activities on healthy life expectancy for older people with diabetes

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine whether leisure activities can help reduce years lived with disability and increase healthy life expectancy of diabetics aged 50 years and above. Methods: Analysis was based on five waves of follow-up survey data (Taiwan Longitudinal Study of Aging, TLSA) from 1996 to 2011. A total of 5131 participants aged 50 years and above in 1996 were included in the analysis, and gender, leisure activity participation, and diabetes mellitus were used as primary variables to examine the variation trend in health status in the participants. The health status in the various waves of surveys was measured using the activities of daily living scale, and nondisabled was defined as healthy. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to calculate the life expectancy (LE) and healthy life expectancy (HLE) of the people aged 50 years and above. Results: The diabetes older people with a high frequency of leisure activities have longer HLE than those with lower activity frequency. Using 50-year-old diabetic women as an example, the LE (HLE) of those with six or more leisure activities and those with three or fewer leisure activities was 30.40 (25.34) and 24.90 (20.87), respectively. The LE (HLE) of men with the same conditions was 24.79 (22.68) and 20.30 (18.45), respectively. Conclusions: This study used life expectancy and healthy life expectancy as markers to evaluate health benefits and provided evidence that leisure activities can help extend the life span and maintain the health status of middle-aged and older diabetics.