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Transitions in living arrangements among elders in Japan: does health make a difference?
Joseph Winchester Brown1, Jersey Liang, Neal Krause
1School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-2029, USA. winbrown@umich.edu
Objective:
This research evaluates the hypothesis that poor health triggers a change in living arrangements among elderly adults in Japan.
Methods:
Data came from a national probability sample of 2,200 Japanese people aged 60 or older. Four surveys of this sample were conducted over a period of 9 years, from 1987 to 1996. Multinomial logit regression analyses were used to analyze the effects of demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, and health on changes in living arrangements.
Results:
Living arrangements among the Japanese elderly people remained quite stable over the 9-year period. Physical and mental health conditions were found to exert both direct and indirect effects on transitions in living arrangements.
Discussion:
Poor health does trigger changes in living arrangement. Both physical (i.e., chronic conditions and functional status) and mental (i.e., depressed affect) health conditions play a role in such transitions. Because health conditions are correlated with competing risks of mortality, attrition, and proxy interview, health effects on changes in living arrangement are likely underestimated.