The relationship between social support, health, living arrangement, and subjective well-being of among elderly people in a farming village in Akita Prefecture

Background: Social support is related to health in human beings. The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between social support, health, living arrangement and subjective well-being in among elderly people. Material and Method: We analyzed the social support among families living together. The support of neighbors and friends was not considered. The subject group consisted of 771 (348 male, 423 female) elderly people, age 55 years and above in a farming village in Akita prefecture. Self administered anonymous questionnaires were used. Volun teers visited each house in November 2001 and collected the questionnaires. Social support was measured with the Measurement of Social Support-Elderly (MOSS-E) scale. Results: The results were as follows. (1) There was a stronger association between social support, health, and living habits (sleep, appetite) in males than in females. (2)Among females, the residential environment had a stronger association with the social support compared with males. (3) An association was found between social support and subjective well-being when two-way ANOVAs (providing X receiving) were used to analyze. On the occasion, receipt support was divided into instrumental and emotional classification. Again, this relationship about main effect was stronger in males than in females, but the interaction was not significant in both sexes.