ABSTRACT
<b>Objective</b> : Although current preventative care policies consider the issue of the homebound elderly to be important, effective means of intervention have not been established. Therefore, it is necessary to elucidate the relevant causes of the poorly understood “homebound” problem. As little expertise exists on the social and psychological factors of those who are homebound, this study focuses on the sense of coherence (SOC) —a new estimate of the psychosocial factors involved in being homebound—and examines the connection between being homebound and SOC.<br><b>Methods</b> : A mail survey was conducted among 1,895 elderly adults, none of whom had been issued a Certification of Long-Term Care Need. Survey items included basic attributes, physical characteristics, psychological and socioenvironmental characteristics, and the condition of being homebound. Furthermore, SOC was investigated as part of the psychosocial and environmental evaluation. The 853 respondents chosen for the analysis were divided into three groups depending on their level of homeboundedness, and an ordered logistic regression analysis was conducted using homeboundedness as the dependent variable.<br><b>Results</b> : The following items were found to have a significant association with homeboundedness : age, sex, low motor function, depressive tendencies, low SOC, and the low TMIG Index of Competence.<br><b>Discussion</b> : This study identified a relation between being homebound and SOC, suggesting that in addition to interventions for depression and motor function, new SOC focused aid must be considered in the prevention of homeboundedness.