The Locus of Control of Japanese Senior Citizens with Hemiplegia

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of living circumstances on the locus of control of senior citizens with hemiplegia, and to research the factors that control the locus of control from among the 10 items (activities of daily living, quality of life, degrees of paralysis, age, sex, diagnosis, type of disorder, length of living at home/institution, whether or not s/he has hobbies, whether or not s/he has friends). The subjects of this study were senior citizens with hemiplegia who were living at home (n=31) or resided in the nursing homes (n=30), and elderly able bodied people who were living at home (n=35). The results showed that there were no significant differences in the locus of control between the hemiplegia group and able bodied people group, but in the stroke patients group, patients who were living at home got a high score in the locus of control which was significantly more than that of these who resided in nursing homes. The items which controlled the locus of control were abilities of activities of daily living among the senior citizens with hemiplegia who were living at home and quality of life among these who resided in nursing homes. The results suggest that a sensitive indicator of locus of control is not physical disability but place of living. The living at home group requires the formation of an environment in which activities of daily living ability can be drawn out to the maximum, and the institution group requires the offer of a lifestyle that is high in quality and which matches the individual preferences of the people entering the institution.