Abstract
The purpose of this study was to clarify risk factors of mortality for elderly by focusing on the social network ties, which defined as amount of interaction with close relatives and friends. The subjects were all the residents of 60 years of age and older in an agricultural village near a large urban center on the main island of Japan. A mail survey of 663 residents was designed to get a clear picture of social network ties were like in this village and peoples life styles, etc. A total of 61 subjects deceased within five years period after the baseline survey. The results were as follows : 1) The mortality was higher among the elderly of 75 years of age and older, and of the dependent on moving and changing clothes. 2) Also, mortality was higher among the elderly who had weak social network ties (less than 36 times per year) and dependent on changing clothes by logistic regression analysis adjusting for age and sex. 3) Strong social network ties reduced mortality even adjusting for age, sex, activity of daily living, and health status. These findings suggest a strong influence of social network ties to mortality, and a useful prevention strategy that would ensure the provision of support services to avoid a health decline for the elderly.
