[Characteristics of the elderly transferees in a resort area from metropolitan areas: comparison to the elderly in a rural non-resort area and in a metropolitan area].
OBJECTIVE
This study examines characteristics of elderly transferees in a resort area who moved from metropolitan areas, comparing them to two groups: elderly living in a rural non-resort area and elderly living in a metropolitan area.


METHODS
Both the resort area and the non-resort area were located in Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture. The metropolitan area was in Nerima ward, Tokyo. From each area, 400, 400 and 600 random samples aged 65 and over were selected for face-to-face interview surveys separately. The number of the effective samples in each of the three groups was 176 (excluding transferees from rural area), 267, and 423, respectively. Characteristics were measured from five aspects; demographic aspects, health status, health habits, social networks, and social support.


RESULTS
Almost indicators of health status did not show significant differences between respondents living in the resort area and each of the remaining two groups. Respondents living in the resort area were significantly less likely to attend community groups than those living in non-resort rural areas, and they also were less likely to have a home physician or persons who provided care.


CONCLUSIONS
Transferees living in a resort area who moved from metropolitan areas may have extra health and welfare needs, compared to the elderly living in non-resort rural areas or the elderly living in metropolitan areas. Possible reasons for these extra needs may be relate to their urbanized life style, lower amount of medical resources in a rural area, or lower level of informal support possessed within a household.
Sugisawa
H
H
Dept. of Health Sociology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology.
Saito
T
T
Shibata
H
H
D000368:Aged; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012424:Rural Population; D012944:Social Support; D014505:Urban Population