Department of Rehabilitation, Medical Corporation, Sanshukai, Okatsu Hospital, Kagoshima, Japan.
Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan.
Psychogeriatrics. 2023 May;23(3):401-410. doi: 10.1111/psyg.12945. Epub 2023 Feb 12.
It has been shown that involvement in religious activities has a positive impact on psychological aspects. In this study, the relationship between grave visitation, a standard religious activity in Japan, and depression and apathy symptoms was investigated among older adults in Japan.
A total of 638 older adults who participated in a community-based health check survey (Tarumizu Study 2019) were interviewed regarding the presence or absence of grave visitation, frequency, travel time, means of transportation, and flower offerings. Apathy and depressive symptoms were measured using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15). The participants were categorised into three grave visitation groups, namely, frequent (more than once per week), occasional (less than once per week), and non-visiting. Outcomes were compared between the frequency groups, and Poisson regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between grave visitation frequency and apathy and depression.
Of the participants, 91.8% reported regular grave visitation. The non-visiting group had a significantly higher prevalence of apathy symptoms (44.2%) than the visiting groups. Furthermore, using the frequent group as the reference, Poisson regression analysis adjusted for potential covariates demonstrated that no grave visitation was significantly related to apathy (prevalence ratio, 1.43; 95% confidence interval, 1.00-2.05, P = 0.049).
Not practising grave visitation was significantly related to apathy among older adults. Helping older adults to visit graves may prevent apathy by facilitating motivation and increasing activity.
参与宗教活动对心理方面有积极影响。本研究旨在探讨在日本，作为一种标准宗教活动的扫墓与老年人的抑郁和淡漠症状之间的关系。
共有 638 名参加社区健康检查调查（Tarumizu 研究 2019）的老年人接受了关于扫墓的有无、频率、出行时间、交通方式和献花情况的访谈。使用 15 项老年抑郁量表（GDS-15）测量淡漠和抑郁症状。参与者被分为三个扫墓频率组，即频繁（每周超过一次）、偶尔（每周不到一次）和不扫墓。比较了各组之间的结果，并使用泊松回归分析调查了扫墓频率与淡漠和抑郁之间的关系。
91.8%的参与者报告定期扫墓。不扫墓组的淡漠症状患病率（44.2%）明显高于扫墓组。此外，在调整了潜在混杂因素后，使用频繁扫墓组作为参考，泊松回归分析表明，不扫墓与淡漠显著相关（患病率比，1.43；95%置信区间，1.00-2.05，P=0.049）。
不扫墓与老年人的淡漠显著相关。帮助老年人扫墓可以通过促进动机和增加活动来预防淡漠。
