Abstract: Objective To study the status and influencing factors of self-supporting ability of elderly people in rural areas in Hunan Province. Methods From July to September 2021,a total of 350 elderly people from five rural areas in Hunan Province were selected as the research objects by the convenience sampling. The questionnaire investigation was general information questionnaire,self-supporting ability questionnaire for elderly people,simplified Chinese version of the autonomous perception scale,death anxiety scale and Lubben social network scale-6,and the data were analyzed. Results The score of self-supporting ability of rural elderly was （178.06±19.26）points. The perceived autonomy and social isolation were positively correlated with the self-supporting ability of the rural elderly（r=0.740,0.318,both P<0.01）,while death anxiety was negatively correlated with the self-supporting ability of the rural elderly（r=-0.308,P<0.01）.The number of chronic diseases,perceived autonomy,death anxiety and social isolation were the influencing factors of self-supporting ability of the rural elderly（all P<0.05）. Conclusions The self-supporting ability of the rural elderly is at a high level. The people with higher level of the perceived autonomy,the lower level of death anxiety and the lower degree of social isolation have the higher level of self-supporting ability.It is necessary to improve the self-supporting ability of the rural elderly and promote their active aging.

Key words: The elderly, Self-supporting ability, Perceived autonomy, Death anxiety, Social isolation