Abstract

Housing tenure is an important aspect to determine health. However, even though renters tend to have more socioeconomic disadvantages than homeowners, mortality risk between private and public renters compared with homeowners remains unclear. Japanese public rented housing, such as the Urban Renaissance Agency, has been developed for supplying an adequate living environment since 1950s. This study aimed to examine the mortality risk among older Japanese residents living in private and public rented houses compared with those living in owner-occupied houses using 9-year follow-up data. This study drew upon a 9-year follow-up of participants in the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, a population-based cohort study of Japanese independent adults aged ≥ 65 years. Mortality from 2010 to 2019 was analyzed for 44,007 respondents. Housing tenure was defined by a questionnaire. Cox regression models were used for calculating the hazard ratio for mortality. Bonferroni correction was used to account for multiple testing between rental houses. Overall, 10,638 deaths occurred during the follow-up period. Compared with housing owners, all rental housing groups had a significantly higher risk of mortality. Among renters, participants who lived in public rental housing had the lowest risk of mortality even after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, health status, social status, and environmental status. Multiple testing among renters with Bonferroni correction showed that public renters had 0.80 times (95% CI 0.72–0.89) lower mortality risk than private renters. Although Japanese older adults living in public rental housing had a higher mortality risk than homeowners, this risk was lower than that among private renters. A positive neighborhood environment based on well-planned urban development may have contributed to this result. The results suggest that planned urban development lowers the risk of mortality in older renters in Japan.

Details

Title
Living in public rental housing is healthier than private rental housing a 9-year cohort study from Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study
Author
Koga, Chie 1 ; Saito, Tami 2 ; Hanazato, Masamichi 3 ; Kondo, Naoki 4 ; Saito, Masashige 5 ; Ojima, Toshiyuki 6 ; Kondo, Katsunori 7 

 The University of Tokyo, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, Tokyo, Japan (GRID:grid.26999.3d) (ISNI:0000 0001 2151 536X) 
 National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Center for Gerontology and Social Science, Aichi, Japan (GRID:grid.419257.c) (ISNI:0000 0004 1791 9005) 
 Chiba University, Center for Preventive Medical Sciences, Chiba-shi, Japan (GRID:grid.136304.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 0370 1101) 
 Kyoto University, Department of Social Epidemiology, Graduate School of Medicine and School of Public Health, Kyoto, Japan (GRID:grid.258799.8) (ISNI:0000 0004 0372 2033) 
 Nihon Fukushi University, Faculty of Social Welfare, Aichi, Japan (GRID:grid.444261.1) (ISNI:0000 0001 0355 4365) 
 Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Hamamatsu-shi, Japan (GRID:grid.505613.4) (ISNI:0000 0000 8937 6696) 
 National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Center for Gerontology and Social Science, Aichi, Japan (GRID:grid.419257.c) (ISNI:0000 0004 1791 9005); Chiba University, Center for Preventive Medical Sciences, Chiba-shi, Japan (GRID:grid.136304.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 0370 1101) 
Pages
7547
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3020251767
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2024. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.