title: Psychological, social, and environmental factors associated with utilization of senior centers among older adults in Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships among the psychological, social, and environmental factors influencing the utilization of senior centers among older adults in Korea.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire survey was administered to two types of older adults who lived in Seoul, Korea: 262 older adults who used senior centers (3 places) and 156 older adults who did not use senior centers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results showed clearly that the utilization of the senior centers in Korea is affected by higher self-efficacy (odds ratio [OR], 6.08; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.31 to 12.32), higher perceived benefits (OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.16 to 4.36), lower perceived barriers (OR, 6.43; 95% CI, 3.07 to 11.45), higher family support (OR, 4.21; 95% CI, 2.02 to 8.77), and higher support from friends (OR, 4.08; 95% CI, 2.38 to 7.81). The results also showed that participants whose total travel time was 15 to 29 minutes (OR, 2.84; 95% CI, 1.21 to 3.64) or less than 14 minutes (OR, 4.68; 95% CI, 3.41 to 8.41) were more likely to use a senior center than those who had to travel more than 30 minutes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed that the utilization of senior centers in Korea is affected by psychological, social, and environmental factors, specifically by self-efficacy, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, social support, convenience of transportation, and total travel time to the senior centers. The effects of longer-term utilization of the senior centers by non-users on health-related outcomes in a large population warrant attention.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Hyun-Shik
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyashita
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.forename: Jong-Hwan
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jae-Moo
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: So
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012919:Social Behavior; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014195:Travel