Analyses of Various Factors Related to Ability to Perform ADLs in People of Advanced Age Report II / 日本農村医学会雑誌

ABSTRACT

　　We conducted a questionnaire survey of ≥4,000 elderly individuals living in mountainous and hilly areas about everyday situations and analyzed their responses to reveal the role of field work.　　The analysis revealed that field work greatly influenced activities of daily living (ADL) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) score in these elderly individuals. We summarized the major results as follows:　　 ・A group of elderly individuals who were care in the fields had many opportunities to go out, play active social roles, and participate in local activities.　　・In the same group, improvement was observed in overall ADL scores, but particularly in instrumental ADL.　　・Depressive tendency was less likely to be observed in elderly individuals who were cared than in those who were not cared. Such intergroup difference intensified among older age groups.