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Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Assessment of Social Interaction Behaviors
Published on: February 25, 2011
Social integration and healthy aging in Japan: how gender and rurality matter
1Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI, 53706-1320, USA. ktanaka@ssc.wisc.edu
Abstract:
The current study analyzed the 1999 and 2001 waves of the Nihon University Japanese Longitudinal Study of Aging. Two measures of social integration were associated with lower risks of being physically disabled or depressed at Wave 1 and with a lower risk of progressing into deeper levels of physical disability and depression by Wave 2. Ceteris paribus, compared to elderly urbanites, elderly ruralites had a much higher risk of being physically disabled but much lower odds of being depressed. And compared to elderly men, elderly women had similar risks of being physically disabled but much higher odds of being depressed. Suggestions are made on how future research on longevity in Japan, the world's most longevous nation, can explore the links among social integration, place, gender, and the postponement of mortality.
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