Influencing Factors on the Health of Chinese Elderly - An Analysis using Structural Equation Models

Abstract: Population aging has been an increasing in many societies during the last century, andespecially in China this issue has become one of the most urgent social phenomenonin the recent twenty years. Meanwhile, being healthy matters to the senior populationthe most. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate how to measure Chineseelderly health condition, and what the main factors are influencing their health. Thedata of this paper is from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study(CHARLS). A structural equation model(SEM) was established to verify therelationship between different influencing factors and the elderly health. The latentvariables in this model were pre-studied by both exploratory factor analysis andconfirmatory factor analysis. The conclusion based on this data is elderly health canbe measured in four aspects physical condition, emotional condition, body functionand pain. The significant influencing effects of each aspects of health are time sharing,exercise, family environment and lifestyle.