Comparative analysis of types according to activities and social participation of the Oldest‐old

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundUsing the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing(KLoSA), we tried to classify the clusters according to the activity and social participation of the oldest‐old and analyze the differences in characteristics between the clusters.MethodData from 682 people aged 85 years or older were included in the analysis using the KLoSA cross‐sectional data. Data extracted factors related to demographic characteristics, activities of daily living, social participation, lifestyle‐related factors, and successful aging. Cluster analysis was conducted focusing on activity and social participation variables. A chi‐square test was performed to determine the differences between demographic characteristics and variables for successful aging between clusters. In addition, ANOVA and Welch’s robust were performed according to the homogeneity of variance, and Scheffe and Dunnett T3 were performed for post hoc analysis.ResultAs a result of Cluster analysis, ‘Active participation’ (4%), ‘Dependent daily life’ (27.1%), and ‘Passive participation’ (68.9%) were clustered. Differences in demographic characteristics between clusters showed high rates in all clusters for women, the level of education below elementary school, and the number of household members of 2∼4. For related‐factors to successful aging, cognitive, perceived health status, depression, and satisfaction of life all showed differences between cluster, and the active participation group showed the most positive results in the post‐hoc analysis.ConclusionThe cluster according to the activities and social participation of the oldest‐olds confirmed the difference in the factors related to successful aging. This is significant in that it was an empirical analysis focused on successful aging for the older aged 85 years and over, and it can be used as a useful basic data for access to health promotion for the super‐aged society in Korea.