2013 Volume 35 Issue 3 Pages 331-341
To evaluate the impact of satisfied isolation on the onset of functional disability of older Japanese adults, we performed a prospective data analysis. We collected baseline information in 2003 from 13,310 functionally independent residents aged 65 years or older who lived in six municipalities in Aichi prefecture. The onset of functional disability was obtained from municipal databases of the public long-term care insurance system. All participants were followed for up to 4 years. Respondents who had face-to-face and non-face-to-face contacts once or twice per month or less were considered as isolated. Of the isolated people, we distinguished between those who were satisfied their life and those not ; 74.1% of isolated older people were categorized as satisfied with their isolation. Cox’s proportional hazard model revealed that isolated older people were 1.34 (95%CI : 1.18-1.53) times more likely to develop functional disability. Although the interaction effect between isolation and life satisfaction was not statistically significant, satisfied isolation in older men was associated with 1.27 (95%CI : 1.02-1.58) times higher risk of functional disability than those who were not isolated. Satisfied isolation was also attributable to 11,000 cases of functional disability annually for the older Japanese population.
