Sendai Center for Dementia Care Research and Training, Miyagi 989-3201, Japan.
Graduate School of Gerontology, J. F. Oberlin University, Tokyo 194-0213, Japan.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Jul 1;21(7):865. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21070865.
Dietary variety is associated with some health outcomes among older adults. Rural areas, however, often have difficulty accessing health information that influences dietary variety. This study aimed to identify patterns of health information sources by using latent class analysis and assess their association with dietary variety among older adults aged ≥ 75 in rural Japan (n = 411). Three patterns of health information sources were identified: multi-sources (29.7%), television-only (53.5%), and non-sources (16.8%). In the multi-sources pattern, more people used television, radio, and newspapers. The television-only pattern had mostly television users, with fewer other sources. The non-sources pattern had many reporting "none." Logistic regression analysis revealed that the multi-sources pattern has a significant positive effect on dietary variety compared with the non-sources pattern (odds ratio: 5.434, 95% confidence interval: 1.792-16.472), even after adjusting for socioeconomic factors and physical health status. These findings underscore the positive impact of broad access to health information on the dietary habits of older individuals. The study highlights the importance of promoting access to diverse health information sources to enhance dietary variety and overall well-being among rural older adults.
饮食多样性与老年人的一些健康结果有关。然而，农村地区在获取影响饮食多样性的健康信息方面往往存在困难。本研究旨在使用潜在类别分析来确定健康信息来源模式，并评估其与日本农村地区≥75 岁老年人饮食多样性的关系（n=411）。确定了三种健康信息来源模式：多来源（29.7%）、仅电视（53.5%）和无来源（16.8%）。在多来源模式中，更多的人使用电视、广播和报纸。电视模式主要是电视用户，其他来源较少。无来源模式报告“无”的人较多。逻辑回归分析显示，与无来源模式相比，多来源模式对饮食多样性有显著的积极影响（优势比：5.434，95%置信区间：1.792-16.472），即使在调整了社会经济因素和身体健康状况后也是如此。这些发现强调了广泛获取健康信息对老年人饮食习惯的积极影响。该研究强调了促进获取多样化健康信息来源的重要性，以提高农村老年人的饮食多样性和整体幸福感。
