2018 Volume 21 Issue 3 Pages 24-31
Purpose: This study aims to clarify the characteristics of social capital and functional capacities and its relation among frail older persons living in remote islands by comparing them with those living in urban and agricultural areas in the mainland. Independent variables are residential areas（remote islands, urban areas, agricultural areas），dependent variables are social capital（general trust and reciprocity, social network）and functional capacities（Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence ［TMIG-IC］，Japan Science and Technology Agency Index of Competence［JST-IC］）．
Methods: Questionnaire surveys were conducted by care professions of community comprehensive care centers, with 741 frail older persons（remote islands: 241 persons, urban area: 250 persons, agricultural area: 250 persons）．
Results: The remote islanders were found to exhibit lower level of trust in others as compared to that in respondents from urban areas（remote islands ＝ 1.0, urban area ＝ 2.03, 95%CI:1.26–3.28, p ＜ 0.01）．As for functional capacities, the score on the TMIG-IC was lower as compared to that of respondents from agricultural areas（2.26, 95%CI:1.48–3.47, p ＜ 0.01），and the score on the JST-IC was lower than that of respondents from urban areas（3.04, 95%CI:1.85–5.00, p ＜ 0.01）.
Conclusion: Older persons living in remote islands were found to have lower trust in others and inferior functional capacities as compared to those in urban and agricultural areas.
