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Aim: We prospectively examined the association between leisure activities and changes in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) among participants of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES). Methods: We analyzed data collected from 49 732 JAGES participants (23 359 men and 26 373 women), aged ≥65 years, from 24 municipalities in Japan. Measurements: Baseline data were obtained for 25 types of leisure activities in which the cohort members participated. Baseline (2010) and follow‐up (2013) data on IADL were collected – the outcome indicated changes in IADL scores from 2010 to 2013. We regressed changes in IADL scores from the 2010 to 2013 to the number of leisure activities. Results: Older adults who engaged in more leisure activities had higher changes in IADL scores than those who engaged in fewer leisure activities: the β values (95% confidence interval [CI]) of the IADL scores were 0.001 [−0.04–0.04], 0.04 [0.01–0.08], 0.09 [0.05–0.13], 0.09 [0.05–0.14], 0.08 [0.02–0.13], and 0.13 [0.07–0.18] for having one, two, three, four, five, and more than six types of leisure activities (P for trend <0.001), respectively. Similar associations were found for different types of leisure activities, including predominantly physical and cultural activities. Statistically significant linear trends were obtained among the group, solitary, and other leisure activity subgroups (P for trend <0.05). Conclusions: Encouraging engagement in leisure activities may promote maintenance of IADL among older populations. Different types of leisure activities appear to have similar positive impacts on IADL. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2022; 22: 152–159. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: There is a large discrepancy between people's preferred and actual place of death in Japan. To manage this discrepancy, this study aimed to identify the variability in preferred places of death and their associated factors among Japanese older people. Methods: Cross‐sectional survey data were collected in 2016 as part of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, in which 20 204 participants were asked about their preferred place of death. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the final determinants for home as the preferred place of death. Results: Based on survey data, 35.8% of respondents preferred home as the place of death, 42.7% preferred some sort of facility and 21.5% were unsure. Those who preferred to be at home when receiving end‐of‐life care were more likely to be older in age, live with others, be employed, be homeowners, have lived in their current residence for a longer period, not be vaccinated for influenza in the past year, engage in physical work or intense sports, not have participated in end‐of‐life discussions regarding preferred place of death, have experienced relatives dying at home, practice norms of reciprocity, have a sense of attachment to their neighborhood, receive instrumental social support, interact with neighbors and live in a rural area. Conclusions: Factors related to community attachment were associated with choosing home as the preferred place of death. To fulfill the preferences of Japanese older people, a broad range of demographic, health, behavioral, social, cultural and environmental factors should be considered. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2021; 21: 345–352. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Levels of social capital can change after a natural disaster; thus far, no study has examined how changes in social capital affect the mental health of disaster victims. In this study, we examined how predisaster social capital and its changes after a disaster were associated with the onset of mental disorders. In October 2013, we mailed a questionnaire to participants in the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study living in Mifune, a town in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, and measured predisaster social capital. In April 2016, the Kumamoto earthquake struck the region. Three years after the baseline survey, postdisaster social capital and symptoms of mental disorders were measured using the Screening Questionnaire for Disaster Mental Health (n  = 828). Multiple Poisson regression indicated that a 1-standard-deviation change in predisaster social cohesion at the community level reduced the risk of depression among women (relative risk = 0.44, 95% confidence interval: 0.24, 0.78); a decline in social capital after the disaster elevated the risk (relative risk = 2.44, 95% confidence interval: 1.33, 4.47). In contrast to social cohesion, high levels of social participation at the community level were positively associated with the risk of depression among women. Policy-makers should pay attention to sex differences and types of social capital when leveraging social capital for recovery from disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To examine whether patterns of social participation vary in their associations with functional disability. Methods: Data from 44 978 participants (22 750 men and 22 228 women) who participated in the 2010 Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study were analyzed; a study of those aged ≥65 years from 23 municipalities in eight prefectures. Social participation information was obtained at baseline with an eight‐item questionnaire. Incidence of functional disability from 2010 to 2013 was defined as a new certification of eligibility for municipal public long‐term care insurance. Social participation patterns were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and participants were classified into quartiles of factor scores of social participation patterns. A competing risk model was used to calculate the hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the incidence of functional disability in 3 years of follow‐up. Results: Two social patterns were identified: sports groups/clubs and hobby groups, and political groups/organizations and industry/trade associations. For both patterns, compared with participants in the lowest quartile, participants in the highest quartile were more likely to be male, college educated, high‐income and current drinkers. Both patterns were associated with reduced incidence of functional disability (adjusted hazard ratios for top quartile of sports and hobby pattern: 0.66, 95% confidence interval: 0.59, 0.74; for political and industry/trade pattern: 0.81, 95% confidence interval: 0.72, 0.90; P for trend <0.001 for both). Conclusions: Those whose social participation patterns were characterized by frequent participation in sports groups/clubs and hobby groups or political groups/organizations and industry/trade associations were less likely to develop a functional disability. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2020; 20: 765–772. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interventions that involve key aspects of community organizing, such as quantitative community assessments and organizational partnership support for the community, may promote residents' health. We evaluated the effectiveness of this form of intervention on mortality and its variability across individual-level household equivalized income tertiles, comparing 52,858 residents aged 65 and above in 12 intervention municipalities to 39,006 residents in nine control municipalities in Japan. During 1,166 days of follow-up, the adjusted hazard ratio for cumulative mortality among men in the intervention municipalities was 0.92 (95% confidence interval: 0.86, 0.99) compared to those in the control group, with similar results being observed across all income levels. Active utilization of data to evaluate communities and building intersectoral partnerships might lower older male residents' mortality risk, regardless of their income status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Social participation and pre-death functional disability trajectories were evaluated. • Older adults' social participation may maintain their last years' functional ability. • Vertical social participation among men were not associated with trajectory patterns. • The findings emphasize the importance of social participation among older adults. • The findings can also shape policies for enhancing aging populations' quality of life. Functional disability has various patterns from onset until death. Although social participation is a known protective factor against functional disability among older individuals, it is unclear whether social participation is associated with the trajectory patterns of functional disability prior to death. This study assessed the association between social participation, specifically in horizontal and vertical groups, and the trajectories of functional disability prior to death. We used survey data from the 2010 Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study for functionally independent older adults combined with public long-term care insurance system data from 2010 to 2016 (n = 4,502). The outcome variables included five previously identified trajectory patterns using group-based trajectory modeling. As the explanatory variable, we used three definitions of social participation: any group, horizontal group (e.g., sports, hobbies), or vertical group (e.g., political, religious), at least once a month. We used a multinomial logistic regression analysis to calculate odds ratios with 95 % confidence intervals for the identified trajectory patterns. Participation in any groups was significantly less likely to belong to "Accelerated disability" (OR=0.74 [95 % CIs 0.60–0.92]), "Persistently mild disability" (0.68 [0.55–0.84]), and "Persistently severe disability" (0.67 [0.50–0.83]) compared to "Minimum disability." Although participation in horizontal groups was similarly associated with trajectories regardless of gender, vertical groups was not associated with trajectories among males. Social participation among older adults may be associated with an extended period of living without disabilities before death. This association may differ by gender and social participation group and requires further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]