Department of Community Health Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, Yokohama City, Japan.
Department of Community and Public Health Nursing, Graduate School of Health Sciences and Faculty of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
Front Public Health. 2023 Sep 8;11:1207334. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1207334. eCollection 2023.
Older adults who live alone in poverty are highly susceptible to non-communicable diseases and other adverse conditions owing to health disparities resulting from social structures. However, the factors associated with health behavior to prevent non-communicable diseases in this population are rarely explored. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with health behavior to prevent non-communicable diseases among older adults living alone in poverty.
We conducted a self-administered mail survey covering 2,818 older adults living alone who were receiving public assistance, randomly selected from lists of individuals receiving national public assistance in all 1,250 local social welfare offices across Japan. A total of 1,608 individuals completed the questionnaire, a valid response rate of 57.1%. Respondents' mean age was 74.5 years (standard deviation = 6.7), and 52.9% were women. The study variables included demographic characteristics, scores on a health behavior scale for older adults living alone and receiving public assistance (HBSO), and individual and community-related factors.
Logistic regression analysis revealed that the individual factor of having a health check-up in the past 12 months [odds ratio (OR): 1.45, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.10-1.91] and the community-related factors Lubben social network scale score (OR 1.15, 95% CI: 1.12-1.18) and Community Commitment Scale score (OR: 1.04, 95% CI: 1.00-1.08) were significantly associated with HBSO scores.
To improve health behavior among older adults living alone in poverty in Japan, social structures, such as lowering mental barriers to the detection, treatment, and management of non-communicable diseases and developing human resources, should be changed to provide social support, such that these individuals are not only dependent on family and friends.
由于社会结构导致的健康差异，独居贫困的老年人极易患上非传染性疾病和其他健康问题。然而，对于这一人群预防非传染性疾病的健康行为相关因素却很少被探究。本研究旨在确定独居贫困老年人预防非传染性疾病的健康行为相关因素。
我们对 2818 名接受公共援助的独居老年人进行了一项自我管理的邮件调查，这些老年人是从日本各地 1250 个地方社会福利办公室接受国家公共援助的个人名单中随机挑选出来的。共有 1608 人完成了问卷，有效应答率为 57.1%。受访者的平均年龄为 74.5 岁（标准差=6.7），52.9%为女性。研究变量包括人口统计学特征、独居接受公共援助老年人健康行为量表（HBSO）评分以及个人和社区相关因素。
逻辑回归分析显示，过去 12 个月内进行健康检查的个体因素[比值比（OR）：1.45，95%置信区间（CI）：1.10-1.91]和社区相关因素卢本社会网络量表评分（OR 1.15，95% CI：1.12-1.18）和社区参与量表评分（OR：1.04，95% CI：1.00-1.08）与 HBSO 评分显著相关。
为了改善日本独居贫困老年人的健康行为，应改变社会结构，例如降低对非传染性疾病检测、治疗和管理的心理障碍，并开发人力资源，为这些人提供社会支持，使他们不仅依赖于家庭和朋友。
