Perceived Enactment of Autonomy Among Japanese Older Adults

Monday, 22 July 2013

Miho Matsui, RN, PhD
Department of Gerontological Nursing, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Japan

Learning Objective 1: EThe leaner will be able to understand importance of measure of autonomy among older adults.

Learning Objective 2: EThe leaner will be able to understand similarities and differences of autonomy between senior center and long-term care users in Japan.

Purpose: Although older people feel that autonomy is important for good quality of life, assessment of autonomy among Japanese older adults are not well examined. The aim of this study was to examine autonomy older people using the Perceived Enactment of Autonomy (PEA) Short version in Japanese.

Methods: A cross-sectional design was adopted using a questionnaire consisted of demographics and measurement regarding autonomy. PEA Short version contains 13 positively and negatively worded statements. There are 3 subscales: Voluntariness (4 items), Individuality (5 items) and Self-Direction (4 items). Cronbach’s alpha of PEA Short version was .922 and for subscales were .788 for Voluntariness, .817 for Individuality, and .800 for Self-Direction.

Results: In total, 369 older adults consisting of 220 for senior center and 149 for long-term care users participated in this study. The sample had a mean age of 76.9 years, and half of the subjects (51%) were male due to stratified sampling. Living arrangements were that 42% couple, 31% alone, and 18% three generations. Self-reported health status showed 31% good, 37% fair, and 30% bad. PEA scores were observed that 7 of 13 items were significantly different between two groups. In addition, Senior center users indicated significantly higher score Voluntariness although total score of PEA in both groups were similar.

Conclusion: Senior center users showed higher scores of Voluntariness, however, both groups indicated similar PEA total score. These results suggest that autonomy of long-term care users is not weakened due to their frailty.