The Lifestyle of Aged People Living Alone in Yabakei Town, and Underpopulated Rural Area in Japan / 日本農村医学会雑誌

ABSTRACT

Yabakei Town is an underpopulated rural area in Oita Prefecture. Eight workers of the Shimogo Clinic interviewed all the people who were more than 70 years old and lived alone in this town. All the 92 subjects who were interviwed responded to this survey. Among them, 81 subjects (88 percent of the interviewees) answered that they chose to live alone as they preferred a life free from restraint, and 28 subjects (30 percent) answered they did not want to leave the place where they were born and lived for a long time.<BR>A modified Face Scale revealed that among the 92 subjects surveyed, 43 subjects (47 percent) felt that they were “complacent” or “very complacent” about their lives as a whole, and 46 subjects (50 percent) answered “not so bad, ” while only three subjects (3 percent) answered “not complacent.” Neither physical dysfunction nor the degree of complacency toward their families was correlated with the satisfaction about their lives. Only the relationship with their neighborhood and/or friends correlated significantly with the satisfaction level in their lives.<BR>As for their futures, only nine people (10 percent of the respondents) replied they were “anxious” or “very anxious.” Howerver, in a question asking them what they would do if they definitely needed someone's help, for example, by accidental injruy of gradual deterioration of their health status, 32 subjects (35 percent of the respondents) answered they had no idea what to do, while another 32 subjects (35 percent) expected their families would help them in some way without much assurance.<BR>On the whole, the aged people were rather complacent about their present lives. But, thinking of their future, it seemed that fragility of their lives was undeniable.