A study by Professor Katsuhiko Takatori of Kio University and his colleagues found that people who feel that their subjective age (emotional age) is ``older than their actual age'' have lower levels of higher functioning and are more likely to require nursing care in the future. became clear.
The results of this research were obtained through a three-year follow-up survey of elderly people living in the community as part of the KAGUYA Project, a collaboration between Kio University and Koryo Town in Nara Prefecture. The analysis target was 3 people.
At the beginning of the survey, those who answered ``I am older than my actual age'' to the question ``Please answer about your perceived age'' were more likely to be able to improve It was found that sexual self-efficacy (confidence in accomplishing things) was significantly lower. In addition, compared to the group who answered that their subjective age was "appropriate for their age" or "younger than their actual age," fewer people in the group who answered that their subjective age was "older than their actual age" had a habit of exercising. Understood.
Next, we analyzed the relationship between the subject's subjective age and the occurrence of new nursing care requirements, and found that those whose subjective age exceeded their chronological age were more likely to newly require nursing care than other groups. On the other hand, those whose subjective age was younger than their actual age were found to be less likely to require nursing care. Even after adjusting for other related factors such as age and gender, logistic regression analysis revealed that feeling ``older than your actual age'' is an independent risk factor for being newly certified as requiring long-term care. .
Studies in Europe and the United States have reported a relationship between subjective age and the risk of developing heart disease and stroke, as well as the risk of death, and subjective age is attracting attention as a proxy indicator that reflects future health status and disease risk. There is. This study revealed that there is a relationship between subjective age and the occurrence of new nursing care needs in Japanese community elderly, and it is important to evaluate subjective age and devise new psychosocial approaches. It is thought that it implied sex.
