As people get older, losing mobility is a big fear because it has a major impact on their quality of life. Scientists now report that older people with more social activities tend to retain their ability to get around longer. The usual hypothesis is that people who are doing better physically will be more likely to maintain social contacts. But a long-term study of aging controlled for many factors and concluded that the relationship also goes the other way. Over the course of 5 years, people who scored lower on a measure of social interaction declined more rapidly on physical abilities and were more likely to become disabled or die.
[Archives of Internal Medicine, June 22, 2009]
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/169/12/1139
