The ikigai of elderly women according to household composition

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine factors associated with ikigai, a Japanese term meaning“ something making one’s life worth living”, according to household composition among Japanese women aged 65 years and older. Method The subjects were 365 healthy women（ mean age, 70.5±5.7 years） participating in social clubs for women between 60 and 95 years old. They completed a self-administered survey containing items for demographic factors （age, household structure, etc.）, quality of life （QOL）, type A behavior pattern （Type A）, a feeling measure of ikigai for elderly people （K-I type）, and romantic feelings. Results The subjects were classified into 4 groups（ A-1, A-2, B-1, B-2）, as follows : A） Living with spouse : A-1“ Couple（ husband and wife only）”, A-2“ Cohabitation（ living together with other family members）”, B） No spouse: B-1“ Alone（ living alone）”, B-2“ Cohabitation（ living together with other family members）”. １．For total ikigai score, A-1 scored significantly higher than B-2（ p<0.05）. ２．Four factors（ “self-realization and will”,“ life sense of fulfillment”,“ will to live”, and“ sense of existence”） constituting the total score for ikigai were compared among the groups. As for “will to live”, A-1 showed a significantly higher score（ p<0.05）. Furthermore, A-1 had a significantly higher score for“ sense of existence” as compared to B-1（ p<0.001） and B-2（ p