Activity assessment of Japanese-descended elderly in Paraguay - A comparison with elderly in Japan

Abstract

To figure out the situation of independence of daily functions of elderly Paraguayans of Japanese descent, we performed an assessment using the TMIG Index of Competence and compared it with that of elderly people living in Japan. The subjects were 271 Japanese-descended elderly people over 65 years old (response rate was 67.8%). The average score of the TMIG Index of Competence of Japanese-descended elderly people was 10.8 ± 2.5, which was similar to that of Japanese elderly people. There were no significant differences in the average rate by attributes. On comparison of each item, significant differences were revealed in 10 of 13 items. The rate at which Paraguayan Japanese-descended elderly people answered "I can" in the instrumental independent items was lower than that of Japanese elderly people. In the social role items the answer rate of "I can" was higher. This result suggests that different living environments are sources of the different answers.