Yonago Acta medica 2003;46:17–24
Effects of Activity Participation of the Elderly on Quality of Life
Miyoko Matsuo, Junko Nagasawa, Akiko Yoshino, Kimiko Hiramatsu and Keiko Kurashiki
Department of Adult and Elderly Nursing, School of Health Sciences, Tottori University Faculty of Medicine, Yonago 683-8503 Japan
Quality of life (QOL) and personality were examined in 2 groups of elderly subjects with and without activity participation (AP). A survey was conducted with 321 elderly subjects over 65 years of age using a 24-item questionnaire regarding personality and depressive inclination and the visual analogue scale-happiness to measure QOL. The AP group was involved in 5 types of activity: community center activity course, learning and lecture participation, club activity, elderly manpower service activity and other activities. The QOL of the AP group was significantly higher than the non-AP group as expected. The perceptual difference between the 2 groups obtained by the correspondence and cluster analyses was that although the elderly of the AP group were satisfied and not bored with their current life, this trend was not clear for the non-AP group. Among the 5 activity types, other activities, characterized as activities adhered to by participants over a long period, showed the highest QOL compared with the 4 other types. In conclusion, the AP of the elderly should be encouraged, and continuing AP might be an important factor in improving QOL of the elderly.
Key words: activity participation; elderly; quality of life; personality questionnaire; visual analogue scale-happiness
