What role does database integration play in enhancing session management in PHP applications?

Database integration plays a crucial role in enhancing session management in PHP applications by allowing session data to be securely stored and managed in a database. This ensures that session data is persistent across multiple requests and can be easily accessed and updated. By using a database to store session data, PHP applications can scale more effectively and securely handle large amounts of user sessions.

```php
// Start the session
session_start();

// Set the session save handler to use a database
ini_set('session.save_handler', 'user');

// Set the database connection parameters
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "username";
$password = "password";
$dbname = "session_db";

// Create a database connection
$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

// Set custom session save handlers
function open($savePath, $sessionName) {
    return true;
}

function close() {
    return true;
}

function read($id) {
    global $conn;
    $id = $conn->real_escape_string($id);
    $sql = "SELECT data FROM sessions WHERE id = '$id'";
    $result = $conn->query($sql);
    if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
        $row = $result->fetch_assoc();
        return $row['data'];
    } else {
        return '';
    }
}

function write($id, $data) {
    global $conn;
    $id = $conn->real_escape_string($id);
    $data = $conn->real_escape_string($data);
    $access_time = time();
    $sql = "REPLACE INTO sessions (id, access_time, data) VALUES ('$id', '$access_time', '$data')";
    $conn->query($sql);
    return true;
}

function destroy($id) {
    global $conn;
    $id = $conn->real_escape_string($id);
    $sql = "DELETE FROM sessions WHERE id = '$id'";
    $conn->query($sql);
    return true;
}

function gc($maxlifetime) {
    global $conn;
    $old = time() - $maxlifetime;
    $old = $conn->real_escape_string($old);
    $sql = "DELETE FROM sessions WHERE access_time < '$old'";
    $conn->query($sql);
    return true;
}

// Set the custom session save handlers
session_set_save_handler('open', 'close', 'read', 'write