Table 1. Baseline characteristics of study participants according to hobbies and a purpose in life (ikigai).

Characteristics	Both		Hobbies only		Purpose in life only		Neither		Pa
	n = 1156		n = 137		n = 303		n = 257
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Demographics
Age, years
≥75	557	48.2	87	63.5	209	69.0	203	79.0	<0.001
Gender
Male	505	43.7	56	40.9	111	36.6	111	43.2	0.162
Income
Low	404	34.9	64	46.7	152	50.2	149	58.0	<0.001
Body mass index
Normal (18.5–25.0 kg/m2)	752	65.1	86	62.8	186	61.4	120	46.7	<0.001
Lifestyle habits
Alcohol intake
Daily drinker	208	18.0	24	17.5	39	12.9	27	10.5	0.007
Smoking history
Ex- or current smokers	411	35.6	49	35.8	86	28.4	90	35.0	0.123
Physical and mental conditions
Chronic diseases under medical treatment
Hypertension	490	42.4	54	39.4	139	45.9	97	37.7	0.234
Musculoskeletal disease	181	15.7	29	21.2	55	18.2	52	20.2	0.132
Heart disease	142	12.3	16	11.7	51	16.8	43	16.7	0.073
Diabetes mellitus	144	12.5	15	10.9	41	13.5	31	12.1	0.902
Stroke	45	3.9	11	8.0	23	7.6	37	14.4	<0.001
Dyslipidemia	80	6.9	8	5.8	12	4.0	10	3.9	0.112
Cancer	32	2.8	4	2.9	8	2.6	12	4.7	0.425
The number of chronic diseases under medical treatment
≥2	282	24.4	34	24.8	87	28.7	75	29.2	0.241
Cognitive functioning (Cognitive Performance Scale)
Poor (score ≥1)	208	18.0	61	44.5	119	39.3	185	72.0	<0.001
Depression (Geriatric Depression Scale)
Depression (score ≥2)	251	21.7	71	51.8	118	38.9	190	73.9	<0.001

^aDifferences between the 4 groups were analyzed using Fisher’s exact test.