Effects of Walking Habits on Health-Related Quality of Life in the Elderly : the JAGES cross-sectional study

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  • Komaki Yasunori
    Graduate School of Economics, Nagoya City University
  • Saito Masashige
    Faculty of Social Welfare, Nihon Fukushi University Center for Well-being and Society, Nihon Fukushi University
  • Hiratsuka Yoshimune
    Department of Ophthalmology, Juntendo University School of Medicine
  • Kondo Katsunori
    Center for Preventive Medical Sciences, Chiba University Center for Gerontology and Social Science, Research Institute, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology
  • Nakayama Noriyoshi
    名古屋市立大学大学院経済学研究科

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Other Title
  • 高齢者の歩行習慣が健康関連QOL に及ぼす影響　－ JAGES2019 横断研究―
  • コウレイシャ ノ ホコウ シュウカン ガ ケンコウ カンレン QOL ニ オヨボス エイキョウ : JAGES2019 オウダン ケンキュウ

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The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to determine the impact of the average daily walking time of the elderly on their health, taking into account reverse causality (endogeneity), and second, to discuss the policy implications of the obtained results from two perspectives: health policy and urban policy.　 The subjects were 10,058 elderly men and 10,601 women aged 65 years or older not certified for long term care who participated in the Health and Life Survey conducted by the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) in 2019. The explained variable was the health-related quality of life score calculated from the EQ-5D-5L. To address endogeneity, analyses were conducted by using instrumental variables method. The instrumental variable was the number of parks and sidewalks suitable for exercise and walking within walking distance (roughly within 1 km). The results showed that when the average walking time increased by30 minutes, the health-related quality of life score increased by 0.124 (0.022) points for men and 0.160 (0.032)points for women. Taking these results into account the Minimum Clinically Important Difference (MID) score difference as a health status, we estimated the additional walking time to raise the health status by one step for each gender. We also estimated the impact of the additional walking time that raises the health status by one step on annual medical costs. The results of this study can also be interpreted as the impact on the health of the elderly, whose walking time increases as parks and sidewalks are improved and increase in number. It is expected that the results will be used as a guide for walking time in urban policies that take health into consideration, and will also be used in future health economic evaluations.

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