We performed a statistical analysis to find characteristic elements or moments which may make old people feel life worth living in rural areas in Japan, using the results of a questionnaire survey we reported in 1996 wiht the title “Aging of the Rural Population and Effective Measures to Respond to the Trend.”
In the analytical procedure, we used a multiple regression analysis with a logistic model. The dependent variable was the question “Is your present life worth your while to live?” As the independent variables, 168 questions were used covering various aspects of everyday life-farm work, activity in the community, environment, health, medication, aging, death, etc.
The number of subjects responded to the survey totaled 1, 373 men and women at age 55 and over living in 7 prefectures in Japan. The purpose of the analysis was to obtain items of questions with statistically significant coefficients in the logistic regression equation for the dependent variable. A total of 28 items of questions of statistic significance were obtained and most of the answers to these questions had a positively directed nature in order. Some of the items are as follows:
“Principles in life, ”“High hopes on agriculture, ”“Family with plural generations, ”“Satisfaction with domestic conditions, ”“Positive (healthy) ADL-markers, ”“Liking for harmony, ”“Participation in neighborhood activity, ”“Medication up to the terminal stage, ”“Willingness to leave one's body to medicine or donate for organ transplantation, ” etc.
Further, we discussed the comparison of items of unique characteristics between prefectures, healthy and unhealthy groups, sexes, age groups, and farmers and non-farmers.