Watanabe Kumi, Tanaka Emiko, Wu Bailiang, Kobayashi Zyunko, Mochizuki Yukiko, Kim Yeon, Watanabe Taeko, Okumura Rika, Ito Sumio, Anme Tokie
Graduate School of comprehensive Human Science, University of Tsukuba.
Southwest Jiaotong University.
Nihon Koshu Eisei Zasshi. 2017;64(5):235-245. doi: 10.11236/jph.64.5_235.
Objectives Recently, social isolation has been reported to be a critical problem among Japanese elderly persons. However, few studies have compared social interaction in the past and the present or investigated its predictive factors. This study aimed to clarify the transitional changes in social interaction over 20 years and explore the factors related to social interaction focusing on the use of community resources.Methods The participants were community-dwelling elderly persons aged 65 years and over. A survey was conducted 8 times from 1994 to 2014 in the suburban area of Tobishima, Japan. The Index of Social Interaction Scale was used and each subscale and the total score were calculated. Subsequently, the 2014 scores were compared with the 1994 scores using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to clarify the factors related to social interaction, focusing on the association between the use of community resources (local elderly management center, health care center, health promotion facility, library) in 2011 and social interaction 3 years later. Age, gender, disease, and mobility were also entered into the model as control variables.Results Comparing social interaction in 1994 and 2014, total scores were found to have significantly increased in all age groups. Independence scores significantly increased in the overall group and in females aged 75-84. Curiosity scores also increased in both males and females. These results show that social interaction has increased over 2 decades. In addition, the use of local elderly management and health care centers, and health promotion facilities was associated with total social interaction scores 3 years later.Conclusion The current study clarified changes in social interaction, both comprehensively and for each of its aspects, among community-dwelling elderly adults. Increasing social isolation has been reported in recent years; however, the current study showed that social interaction, including social curiosity and independence, has increased over 20 years. The effect of preventive intervention in local elderly management centers, health care centers, and health promotion facilities may be one of the causes for this increase.
目的 最近有报道称，社会孤立是日本老年人面临的一个关键问题。然而，很少有研究比较过去和现在的社会互动情况，或调查其预测因素。本研究旨在阐明20年来社会互动的过渡性变化，并探讨与社会互动相关的因素，重点关注社区资源的利用情况。
方法 研究对象为65岁及以上的社区居住老年人。1994年至2014年期间，在日本利岛的郊区进行了8次调查。使用社会互动量表指数，并计算每个子量表和总分。随后，使用Wilcoxon秩和检验将2014年的得分与1994年的得分进行比较。进行逻辑回归分析，以阐明与社会互动相关的因素，重点关注2011年社区资源（当地老年人管理中心、医疗保健中心、健康促进设施、图书馆）的使用与三年后的社会互动之间的关联。年龄、性别、疾病和行动能力也作为控制变量纳入模型。
结果 比较1994年和2014年的社会互动情况，发现所有年龄组的总分均显著增加。总体组以及75-84岁女性的独立性得分显著增加。男性和女性的好奇心得分也有所增加。这些结果表明，社会互动在20年中有所增加。此外，当地老年人管理中心、医疗保健中心和健康促进设施的使用与三年后的社会互动总分相关。
结论 本研究全面且从各个方面阐明了社区居住老年人社会互动的变化。近年来有报道称社会孤立现象在增加；然而本研究表明，包括社会好奇心和独立性在内的社会互动在20年中有所增加。当地老年人管理中心、医疗保健中心和健康促进设施的预防干预效果可能是这种增加的原因之一。
