Social Activities of Community-Dwelling Centenarians in Urban and Rural Korea

This study explored social activity patterns among community-dwelling centenarians aged 95 years and older residing in three distinct regional contexts in South Korea: a metropolitan city, a peri-urban rural area, and a typical rural area. Data were collected from 167 participants between 2023 and 2025 through in-person visits conducted by a multidisciplinary research team. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, and Kruskal-Wallis tests with Dunn’s post hoc comparisons, and were supplemented by qualitative data from in-depth interviews. Rural centenarians maintained a broader range of independent activities than their urban counterparts. While hospital and clinics were the most common places to visit across all regions, visits to village hall and senior centers were markedly more frequent in rural areas, reflecting greater utilization of community spaces. Length of residence and attachment to places were also substantially higher in rural regions. The proportion of centenarians who frequently socialized with non-family members was significantly higher in rural areas, confirming that overall community engagement was higher there. These findings confirm that social activity among centenarians is closely associated with the environmental and cultural characteristics of their residential context. Given that the social activity patterns of urban and rural centenarians differed markedly, this study discussed the need to examine centenarians’ lives grounded in an understanding of each community’s distinct characteristics.