Physical Activity and Cumulative Long-Term Care Cost among Older Japanese Adults: A Prospective Study in JAGES

Hiroshi Hirai, Masashige Saito, Naoki Kondo, Katsunori Kondo and Toshiyuki Ojima
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Hiroshi Hirai: Department of Regional Social Management, Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Yamanashi, 4-4-37 Takeda, Kofu-shi, Yamanashi 400-8510, Japan
Masashige Saito: Faculty of Social Welfare, Nihon Fukushi University, Okuda, Mihama-cho, Chita-gun, Aichi 470-3295, Japan
Naoki Kondo: Department of Social Epidemiology, Graduate School of Medicine and School of Public Health, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
Katsunori Kondo: Center for Well-Being and Society, Nihon Fukushi University, 5-22-35 Chiyoda, Naka-ku, Nagoya 460-0012, Japan
Toshiyuki Ojima: Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, 1-20-1 Handayama, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431-3192, Japan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-10

Abstract: This study aimed to determine the impact of physical activity on the cumulative cost of long-term care insurance (LTCI) services in a cohort of community-dwelling people (65 years and older) in Japan. Using cohort data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) on those who were functionally independent as of 2010/11, we examined differences in the cumulative cost of LTCI services by physical activity. We followed 38,875 participants with LTCI service costs for 59 months. Physical activity was assessed by the frequency of going out and time spent walking. We adopted a generalized linear model with gamma distribution and log-link function, and a classical linear regression with multiple imputation. The cumulative LTCI costs significantly decreased with the frequency of going out and the time spent walking after adjustment for baseline covariates. LTCI’s cumulative cost for those who went out once a week or less was USD 600 higher than those who went out almost daily. Furthermore, costs for those who walked for less than 30 min were USD 900 higher than those who walked for more than 60 min. Physical activity among older individuals can reduce LTCI costs, which could provide a rationale for expenditure intervention programs that promote physical activity.

Keywords: physical activity; older adults; care cost (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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