Preventive care for frail seniors living alone in the community

-Special characteristics compared with seniors living with others-

Abstract

The subjects were 125 eligible people out of 142 people considered as weak seniors (hereinafter, frail seniors) according to the basic checklist in S city. A self-administered questionnaire survey using a leaving method was conducted to investigate the frail senior's basic characteristics, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence (TMIG-IC), Scale for the feeling that life is worth living among the aged (K-1 Scale), Social Support Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale, and General Self-Efficacy Scale. In the statistical analysis, seniors living alone (group A) and seniors living with others (group B) were compared. Group A had a significantly higher score in instrumental independence and significantly lower scores in emotional support, instrumental support, negative support, and positive support. The odds ratio of each characteristic factor between seniors living alone and seniors living with others was 4.44 in instrumental independence, 0.51 in emotional support, 0.72 in instrumental support, and 0.76 in negative support. It was found that frail seniors living alone are instrumentally independent. However, it was also suggested that they are less likely to utilize emotional, instrumental, and social support.