Social participation, barriers, and related factors in older people in Tehran

Increase of elderly population in the world is a critical issue. Retirement and limitation of social activity are some of the problems that elderly people face. Hence، this study was conducted to determine social participation، barriers and related factors in elderly people in Tehran. This descriptive-correlational study was conducted on 330 elderly people above 60 years old in city of Tehran in 2014. Demographic characteristics questionnaire and “Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) - Social Participation” were used for data collection. The data were analyzed with SPSS/20. The mean score of social participation was 15. 96 (±4. 30). Around 37. 7% of elderly people did not have any social participation. Factors associated with social participation included، cost of social activities (36%)، disease and illness (30%)، and transportation problems (27. 3%). The male elderly with low age، married، university educated، and low number of offspring’s had significantly better score of social participation (P< 0. 05). Although social participation in elderly people was low، many of them did not have any social participation. Therefore، planning to increase the salary، managing disease or illnesses، reducing transportation issues and considering other associated factors are suggested to improve social participation in elderly people.