2014 Volume 19 Issue 1 Pages 72-80
The aims of this research were to clarify the actual conditions of subjective health, loneliness and social interaction among the elderly aged 75 or over who underwent a medical checkup to prevent against arterial sclerosis, and to find the factors related to subjective health. Data of 156 participants were analyzed. 94 females (60.6%) served as the subjects. The mean age was 80.1 (standard deviation 3.3) years. The couple households were most numerous (32.7%). The proportion of the subjects who were under severe income situations was 23.7%. The subjects who had diseases were 90.4% and those who had no fitness habits were 44.9%. Subjective physical health was positively related to subjective mental health, total scores of Index of Social Interaction, and scores of its three subscales. It was negatively related to scores of loneliness. To find the factors related to subjective physical and mental health, the multiple regression analysis was used with subjective physical and mental health as the dependent variables and fitness habits, family constitution, total scores and three subscales of Index of Social Interaction, and loneliness as the independent variables. As the results, the factors related to subjective physical health were fitness habits, social concerns, involvement with others and loneliness. No factor was related to subjective mental health. These results suggested that it was important to have fitness habits, to be concerned about the community, such as participation in social activities, and to arrange opportunities to meet friends or neighbors for the purpose of keeping subjective physical health among the participants in the medical checkup.
