Childhood sports club experiences mitigate the association between childhood socioeconomic disadvantage and functional disability in older Japanese men

This study examined whether childhood sports club experiences mitigate the association between childhood socioeconomic disadvantage and later life functional disability among older adults using a population-based study in Japan in a moderation analysis (n = 16,095, average age = 73 years). Functional disability was assessed using a 13-item measure of higher-level functional ability; scores below the 10th percentile indicated functional disability. Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) at age 15 years was assessed according to time-appropriate standards. Childhood sports club experiences were assessed according to the extent of club/group sports experience during different age periods. For both sexes, lower childhood SES was associated with higher functional disability risk, and longer cumulative childhood sports club experience was associated with lower risk. Childhood sports club experiences modified the association between childhood SES and functional disability in men. Among men with low childhood SES, those with two or more periods of childhood sports club experience had substantially lower functional disability risk than those with no experience (adjusted odds ratio = 0.32, 95% confidence interval: 0.21-0.50). In women, childhood sports club experience did not modify the association with functional disability, but it modified the association with impaired intellectual activity, a subscale of higher-level functional ability.