Centre for Policy on Ageing



Subjective usefulness and 6-year mortality risks among elderly persons in Japan
Author(s)	Kazushi Okamoto, Yuko Tanaka
Journal title	Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, vol 59B, no 5, September 2004
Pages	pp P246-P249
Source	http://www.geron.org
Keywords	Well being ; Life satisfaction ; Death rate [statistics] ; Longitudinal surveys ; Japan.
Annotation	Several studies have demonstrated that the loss of a sense of one's own self-worth has an influence on health status, psychological functioning and quality of life (QoL) in old age. The authors used longitudinal data for 784 older residents (mean age 73) living in a rural town in Japan, to examine the relationship between subjective usefulness and 6-year mortality. They hypothesised that subjective usefulness is an important indicator of quality of life among the older population, and subsequently of mortality. They elicited information on subjective usefulness at baseline by using a self-administered questionnaire. Results of longitudinal analyses showed that subjective usefulness may be significantly associated with self-rated health and subsequently mortality. This indicates that subjective usefulness plays an important role in enhancing older people's survival. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-051124202 A
Classmark	D:F:5HH: F:5HH: S5: 3J: 7DT
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.