Rotating savings and credit association, its members' diversity, and higher-level functional capacity: A 3-year prospective study from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study.

ABSTRACT:

Aim

A rotating savings and credit association - an informal local microfinance group - provides community-dwelling older adults with cohesive social capital. This study examined whether participation in mujin, a traditional Japanese rotating savings and credit association, affected the maintenance of higher-level functional capacity in older adults.

Methods

We studied 10 991 older adults living in 24 municipalities in Japan who were aged ≥65 years, and physically and cognitively independent. We carried out a baseline survey in 2013 and a follow-up survey in 2016. Higher-level functional capacity, consisting of instrumental activities of daily living, intellectual activity and social role, was assessed using the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence.

SUBMITTER: Sato K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7003940 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature