Search

We examined sex and age differences in health promotion behavior, participation in social activities, and perceived transportation problems of elderly people living in a small town far from the nearest train station. A questionnaire was sent to 567 men and women aged 60 years old and over living in a small town in Kanagawa prefecture. A total of 397 people responded. The questionnaire consisted of 42 questions concerning their health, daily activities (including their desire to participate in social activities), the frequency with which they went out, their attitude toward health promotion behavior, and their perceived transportation problems. They were also asked why they acted in ways that promote their health. The reliability of the data was examined with the coefficient kappa and with Cronbach's alpha. Chi-squared tests were used to examine sex and age differences. Women reported more health problems and more transportation problems, and said that they were less active in social activities than did men. Women become inactive in daily life with increasing age earlier than do men. Contrary to our hypothesis, women tended to have medical examinations more often than did men. More women under 75 years old than men answered that they acted in ways that promote their health because they did not want to give others trouble when they became ill, fewer women than men said that they wanted to enjoy their intended activities. These results seem to show that women lead less active social lives than do men and have less motivation for promoting their health because of a desire to lead an active life. more...

Social activities such as visiting friends or participating in community groups have been shown to correlate positively with active health promotion, more frequent physical exercise, and maintenance of activities of daily living in older people. Social inactivity may result from personal factors such as physical condition and from environmental factors such as limited means of transportation. To study the latter factors, we focused on perceived transportation difficulties and on the influence of those perceptions on the daily activities of elderly people. We sought to test the hypothesis that perceived transportation problems restrict health promotion or social activities and accelerate the decline in activities of daily living, and also to determine how transportation can be improved. A questionnaire was sent to 238 people (a fifth of the population) aged 60 years or older who were living in a small town in Kanagawa prefecture. Buses are the principal mode of public transportation from their residences to the nearest train station and the trip takes about 50 minutes. Responses were received from 190 persons (83.3%, excluding those who had died, moved, or were in the hospital). Of the respondents, 166 (74 men and 92 women) went out by themselves and their responses were subjected to logistic regression analysis. The results revealed the following points. (1) For both men and women, riding buses to the hospital was associated with a greater perception of problems with respect to convenience, physical exertion, or anxiety when crossing the road. (2) Among women, greater perceived inconvenience of transportation correlated with a lower frequency of going out for daily shopping; a higher frequency of visiting friends correlated with greater perception of physical exertion. (3) Among women, the main desire was to visit friends. Men indicated that they wanted to be more active in hobbies. The women indicated that the main reason they do not fulfill their desires was that transportation is inconvenient. These findings indicate that perceived transportation problems can prevent elderly people, especially women, from going out for health promotion and social activities. This indicates that to support social activities of elderly people, the means of transportation should be made more convenient and more physically accessible, and local circumstances should be taken into consideration. more...