Physical and Psychosocial Changes in One-Year of Tojikomori and Tojikomerare among Community-dwelling Disabled Elderly

Abstract

A Japanese word Tojikomori is the elderly who are housebound-inactive but have enough mobility level. Tojikomerare is the elderly who are housebound-inactive elderly because of their low mobility. The purpose of the present study is to describe physical and psychosocial changes in one year of Tojikomori and Tojikomerare among community-dwelling disabled elderly. The study design is a longitudinal study. Participants were 225 community-dwelling disabled elderly. Nurses conducted home interviews at Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan, in 1998 as baseline and 1999 as follow-up, and evaluated physical function and psychosocial characteristics of disabled elderly. Results obtained were as follows : 1. Among the elderly who were able to walk 5 yards, 25% of the Tojikomori had died. The mortality was significantly associated with Tojikomori. 2. During one year, the caregiving burden of Tojikomerare significantly had increased, and the autonomy of Tojikomori significantly had declined. In one year, the physical and psychosocial changes among Tojikomori and Tojikomerare were specified.