Abstract
The purpose of this study was to clarify the present status of the physical fitness, health status and situation of their farm work in elderly agricultural laborers. The subjects of this study were 99 elderly agriculturists more than 65 years old living in an agriculture area. The subjects were classified into three groups:a non-agricultural group (group C-controls), an agriculturist's group who had been engaged in work more than 150 days/year (group A), and those who worked less than 150 days/year (group B), respectively. As a result, for males, there was no significant difference in physical fitness between groups A and B. For females, group A had significantly higher ability than those of group C in terms of functional fitness, such as locomotive movements, standing and sitting movements, and self-care movements. On the other hand, there were no statistical differences in ability for housework movements between group A and C. The results suggest that a higher level of functional fitness in elderly females should be encouraged and the necessity for maintaining it. In addition, it is important that elderly agricultural females should be trained to improve their housework movements.
