Examination of Subjective Health and Its Factors in Elderly People Participating in Lifelong Learning : Associations with Health Behaviors, Sense of Coherence, and Social Activities
- VernacularTitle:生涯学習参加高齢者における主観的健康感に関連する要因についての検討：健康行動、首尾一貫感覚そして社会活動との関連
- Author:
Yoshihiko HIROTANI
1
;
Junji MUKAI
2
;
Michiaki MYOTOKU
3
Author Information
- Keywords: elderly people; subjective health; health behavior; sense of coherence; social activity
- From:Japanese Journal of Social Pharmacy 2025;44(2):86-93
- CountryJapan
- Language:Japanese
- Abstract: In an aging society, as individual lifestyles and values become more diverse, subjective health indicators at the individual level rather than at the group level are now being emphasized. This study examined factors influencing the subjective health of elderly people, and examined the relationship between health behaviors, sense of coherence, and social activity. A questionnaire survey was conducted among participants in lifelong learning programs and exploratory factor analysis was used to examine the effects of the questionnaire items on subjective health. There were 174 participants, with an average age of 73.4 years old. The more than half of respondents gave positive answers to questions about their health and lifestyle habits. Their nutritional status, eating habits, sleep condition, and exercise habits were good. Exploratory factor analysis of the questionnaire results extracted 4 factors for health behaviors and one factor for sense of coherence. The results of the covariance structure analysis of subjective health showed that the latent variable social activities had the greatest influence on subjective health. The observed variables mainly influenced by social activities were health behavior, a sense of coherence, and community communication. It was shown that social activities had a significant direct effect as a factor in the high subjective health.
