2008 Volume 30 Issue 1 Pages 3-14
The purpose of this study was to classify the elderly based on the functional status of psychological, physical and social aspects. We performed cluster analysis for the data of 1,231 people aged from 65 to 84 years old. Analyzed measures were subjective well-being and depressive symptoms as indicators of psychological aspects, presence of disease and grip strength as indicators of physical aspects, social support and a scale of instrumental activities of daily living as indicators of social aspects. As a result, five groups emerged. One group had higher scores in all aspects. One group had lower scores in all aspects and another group had remarkably depressive symptoms in addition to lower scores. Consistency in the level of the scores was observed in these three groups. Dissociation of psychological and social aspect, and physical aspects was observed in the other two groups. The score of psychological well-being was higher not only in the group with higher scores in all aspects but also the group of individuals who had lower physical function.
