Home and social role as factors leading to health maintenance among the elderly living in rural Japan: A longitudinal study

Purpose: Our study aimed to clarify home and social factors by gender that lead to maintenance of health in the elderly, such as taking care of others and having social activities. Methods: A total of 14,712 and 14,799 respondents to the “Survey of Needs in the Spheres of Daily Life” conducted in Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture in 2017 and 2020, respectively, who were aged 65 years or older (recovery rate was 78.5 %) were enrolled. Of these, 4,322 people who answered that they did not receive long-term care in 2017 survey and who also responded to the 2020 survey or were confirmed dead by the time of the survey were included in the analysis. The status of health maintenance was the outcome and those who answered the 2020 survey saying they did not receive long-term care were defined as health maintained. Those who answered that they did receive long-term and those who died were defined as health lost. Results: After adjusting for variables such as basic attributes, health status, and functional capacity, the elderly who had persons whom to they provided care (excluding long-term care) had health maintenance rate higher at 3 years than those who did not provide care or long-term care. In addition, the results showed that men who had job with income and women who participated in neighborhood associations had higher rates of health maintenance. Conclusion: This study showed that older adults who take on roles at home and in society are more likely to maintain their health.