The aim of this study was to clarify the percentages of elderly people living in a rural community of Japan who were able to and those who were not able to maintain active independence in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) over a period of 8 years and the lifestyle factors that influence the maintenance of active independence. The subjects were 410 elderly people (aged 65 years or over) living in Nangai, Akita Prefecture who were independent in all IADL in the baseline survey

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... ed in 1988. The survey was conducted by interviews. There were 25 items related to lifestyle in the survey, including 17 items concerning daily habits and 8 items concerning frequency of food intake. A follow-up survey of the 410 subjects was conducted 8 years later, in 1996. The percentages of men and women subjects who were still independent in IADL at the time of the follow-up survey were 54.2% and 55.1%, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis controlling for age and education was carried out to determine the degrees to which lifestyles influence active self-maintenance.