Table 2 Descriptive characteristics by the message allocation

Study area

 Gejo in Tokamachi

54.8

54.3

55.9

53.8

55.1

0.937^a

 Yoshijima in Kawanishi

45.2

45.7

44.1

46.2

44.9

Sex

 Men

46.3

47.0

43.0

45.4

49.6

0.321^a

Age (years)

75.7 ± 7.9

75.7 ± 8.1

75.8 ± 7.9

76.1 ± 7.9

75.3 ± 7.7

0.630^b

 65–69

26.4

26.2

25.3

26.1

28.0

0.724^c

 70–79

41.5

42.0

42.0

40.1

42.2

 80–89

26.4

25.2

27.4

28.5

24.5

  ≥ 90

5.6

6.6

5.3

5.4

5.3

Marital status

 Married

71.8

77.8

71.4

67.6

70.1

0.013^a

Education

  ≥ High school graduation

54.6

56.7

52.4

55.4

53.8

0.659^a

Subjective financial stability

 Affluent

2.5

2.3

2.4

3.0

2.1

0.631^c

 Somewhat affluent

7.3

7.2

7.4

7.7

6.9

 Normal

65.3

63.8

66.3

65.7

65.4

 Somewhat poor

19.0

19.0

17.5

19.2

20.2

 Poor

6.0

7.7

6.4

4.4

5.3

Working status

 Currently working

33.2

38.2

31.3

29.4

33.6

0.064^a

Neighborly tie

 I often talk with neighbors about my problems

23.2

24.2

22.0

23.8

23.0

0.871^c

 I only make small talk with my neighbors

49.5

46.8

51.2

47.6

52.4

 I only greet my neighbors

23.6

24.9

23.3

24.3

21.7

 I am not friendly with my neighbors

3.7

4.1

3.5

4.3

2.9

Self-rated health

 Good

3.3

3.6

1.6

3.3

4.9

0.362^c

 Somewhat good

63.7

62.6

66.4

61.5

64.4

 Somewhat poor

23.7

26.2

23.3

22.7

22.6

 Poor

9.2

7.7

8.7

12.6

8.1

Social participation

 Engaging in any social participation activity

53.6

58.1

52.0

51.3

52.8

0.212^a