Citation

Matsumoto H, Igarashi A, Suzuki M, Yamamoto-Mitani N. Australas. J. Ageing 2019; 38(2): 116-123.

Affiliation

Department of Gerontological Home Care and Long-term Care Nursing, School of Health Sciences and Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Australian Council on the Ageing, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/ajag.12607

PMID

30701659

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: On ageing, and as physical functionality declines, shopping for food and commodities can become a challenge. In Japan, convenience stores (CVSs) play an important role in older people's daily lives. This study investigated the relationship between the geographical accessibility of CVSs, supermarkets and grocery stores and shopping independence.

METHODS: We used the administrative long-term care insurance data from a sample of 7703 older adults. The spatial coverages of the stores were calculated using a geographic information system. A multilevel regression analysis was conducted to examine the association between neighbourhood spatial coverage and individual shopping independence.

RESULTS: After adjusting for demographic characteristics, individual functioning and neighbourhood-level population density, the regression analysis revealed that the CVSs spatial coverage was negatively associated with a risk of shopping dependence (odds ratio = 0.73, P = 0.03).

CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that geographical accessibility of CVSs may be beneficial for maintaining shopping independence.

© 2019 AJA Inc.

Language: en

Keywords

food; geography; independent living; transportation