Association rule mining of occupational participation among the South Korean elderly by gender

Due to the rapid aging in South Korea, promoting healthy activity participation among the elderly is becoming an important social issue. In particular, occupational participation in old age is known to have a positive effect on physical, cognitive, and social health. In this study, we analyzed the occupational participation patterns of the elderly in South Korea, and derived association rules between major occupations to suggest the direction of intervention for elderly occupational participation. This cross-sectional and exploratory study analyzed the weekday and weekend occupational participation data of 5690 elderly people aged 65 or older by using the 2019 Time Use Survey data of Statistics Korea. An algorithm was designed by using the R program for association rule mining. The analysis was performed by time (weekday, weekend) and gender (male, female), and the criteria for selecting meaningful rules were set as support of 0.1 or higher, reliability of 0.9 or higher, and improvement of 1.2 or higher. For the male elderly, meal preparation, post-meal cleanup, and personal hygiene were identified as associated occupations centered on community mobility (e.g., commuting, personal maintenance) on weekdays, and shopping in stores and social participation-related mobility were identified as main associated occupations on weekends. For the female elderly, a strong association was found between community mobility and housework (e.g., laundry, cleaning, etc) on weekdays, and housework-related occupations were identified as main associated occupations on weekends. Both elderly men and women showed differences in occupational participation patterns depending on weekdays and weekends, with the female elderly particularly showing higher participation in housework and household management. This study analyzed the occupational participation association rules of South Korean elderly by gender and time, and suggested the need for appropriate directional intervention strategies to promote occupational participation. The importance of community mobility was identified as associated occupations that can promote occupations, social participation, and health management, while sleep, basic daily living, and household activities should be performed as basic activities. The results of this study can be used as basic data for promoting the active participation of the elderly and for achieving healthy old age.