Asian Journal of Research in Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Background: The decline in function that occurs in the elderly population is considered a characteristic of their aging process. This certainly affects their behavior and ability to maintain personal hygiene. The study aimed to determine the correlation between cultural capital and social capital with personal hygiene among the elderly.

Methods: The research was an observational study using a cross-sectional design. The study sample consisted of elderly men in West Aceh with a sample size of 150. Assessment was conducted on three variables, including cultural capital, social capital (as independent variables), and personal hygiene (as the dependent variable). Data was collected through interviews using the questionnaire as the research instrument.

Results: The results indicated that the average age of the respondents was 70.90 years (SD: 7.97), with a higher proportion having completed upper secondary education (45.3%) and a majority still being employed (72%). Correlation and simple linear regression analyzes revealed that cultural capital was significantly associated with personal hygiene (p = 0.001), showing a moderate strength of the relationship (r = 0.339) and a positive correlation. Additionally, social capital was significantly related to personal hygiene (p = 0.046) with a weak strength of the relationship (r = 0.163) and a positive correlation.

Conclusion: The study demonstrated that cultural capital had a stronger relationship with the personal hygiene of elderly men compared to social capital, although both played significant roles in personal hygiene. Further studies are still highly necessary to support these findings, both with the same design in different locations and with different designs, such as longitudinal and experimental studies.