Chinese Seniors’ Leisure Participation and Constraints in Five Cities

Leisure participation plays an important role in healthy aging. With the increasing elderly population and its potential social and economic influences, examining the factors that contribute to leisure constraints can be meaningful in evaluating and shaping Chinese seniors’ leisure participation. Adopting a face-to-face cross-sectional design, this study interviewed 907 community-dwelling seniors in five cities across Eastern, Western, and Southeastern China to explore their leisure comprehension, participation, perceived constraints, and the relationship between demographic factors and perceived constraints. The results indicated that the participants were satisfied with their leisure participation in general; their leisure comprehension and participation were consistent with the literature. Various demographic factors influenced the perception of leisure constraints differently, with the city size of the participants’ residence standing out in terms of its impact on the number of constraints. Recommendations for future research and policy development to promote healthy aging are discussed.