By RINTARO SAKURAI/ Staff Writer
March 30, 2025 at 07:00 JST
Streetcars run on a snow-covered ground in Toyama on Feb. 5. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Elderly residents who generally do not use private vehicles are 1.6 times more likely to develop depression if they live outside walking distance of train stations or bus stops, a study showed.
“Maintaining and improving access to public transportation could help address the issue of depression among elderly people,” said Kazuki Matsumoto, a specially appointed researcher of preventive medicine with Chiba University, who was on the research team.
Earlier studies showed that difficult access to public transportation reduced the physical activities, like walking, among elderly people. It also hindered their social participation, which could increase the risk of depression.
The latest study, conducted by researchers with Chiba University and other institutions, started in 2016 and covered 4,947 senior citizens of 25 cities and towns across Japan.
The subjects’ average age was 73, and they all initially showed no symptoms of depression and were independent in their daily activities.
Three years later, 483 of them, or 9.8 percent of the total, were diagnosed as having depression based on international standards.
The subjects were classified into two groups: those who drove or were given rides by family members or friends; and those who didn’t use a car.
They were also asked if they lived within walking distance, or 10 to 15 minutes, of train stations or bus stops.
Adjustments were made to mitigate the influence of age, gender, income, employment, marital status, diseases under treatment, if they lived alone or not, population density in their communities and other factors in the study.
Among the 932 elderly people without car usage, those who lived outside walking distance of public transportation were 1.6 times more likely to have depression within the three years of the study than those with easier access to bus stops and train stations.
No similar association was found among elderly residents who used cars.
“Decisions to discontinue or realign railroad or bus routes as part of a community transportation plan should take account of health disadvantages for elderly people without access to cars, who could develop depression if their opportunities for going out are limited,” Matsumoto said.
The research results were published in article format (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2024.108204) in Preventive Medicine, a science journal.
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