Characteristics of elderly persons requiring preventive care and related factors

The objective of this study was to identify items that are useful in easily screening for elderly people who are at a higher risk for requiring preventive care, and the characteristics of such elderly people. Subjects were elderly people who required preventive care, and healthy elderly matched for region, age, and gender who were living independently. A questionnaire survey was conducted using the Preventive Care Risk Assessment Tool, consisting of 50 questions. A response was obtained from 228 pairs from 172 municipalities. Of 163 valid responses, 125 pairs were chosen after eliminating individuals requiring care defined as grade 1 or above by the Long-term Care Insurance system. 1) A significant difference (p< 0.05) between the two groups was seen for 28 of the 50 items. 2) A logistic regression analysis was conducted using the 28 items, and the results identified the following 7 items as statistically significant predictors for requiring long-term care (p