HEALTH RELATED FACTORS MODEL OF THE MIDDLE-AGED AND ELDERLY PEOPLE BASED ON STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the health determinant factors of housing and regional environment in the suburb of Kitakyushu. A questionnaire survey was carried out among the middle-aged and elderly people in Yatsue district, the city of Kitakyushu, in order to clarify the respective influence of houses and regional environment, including the various surrounding environments, on residents' health. As for self-rated health, 80% of the respondents claimed, “I am in good health” or “I am not in bad health”, and there was no great distinction among age groups. Health related factors modeling showing the relations among housing, regional environments, and health was proposed, based on structural equation modeling. This model indicated that 23% of residents' health may be dependent on the influences of their houses and regional environments. This model also showed that residents' health had strong correlation to questionnaire items such as “indoor thermal environment” of houses, and “community activities”, “neighborship” and “green space” for regional environments. Therefore, it is possible that residents' health may require appropriate maintenance through creation of good house and regional environment.