Characteristics of Ikigaikan among Community Dwelling Elderly: Focusing on the Ikigaikan Scale

Abstract

[Purpose] We investigated the characteristics of elderly people’s ikigaikan related to their relationships with others and how they perceive themselves. [Participants and Methods] A questionnaire survey was conducted of 197 elderly people living in the community. We divided the basic attribute items into “high ikigaikan”, and “low ikigaikan”, using the Mann-Whitney U test to confirm significant differences, and performed logistic regression analysis on those that showed statistically significant differences in the basic attribute survey. Regarding the ikigaikan items, we compared the two groups and confirmed the characteristics between the two groups based on statistically significant differences. [Results] Significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of ikigaikan, and significant differences were observed in all items in the evaluation of ikigaikan. [Conclusion] The results suggest that the ikigaikan scale could be an effective tool for identifying characteristics related to ikigaikan in old age.