The Impact of Japan's Soft Lockdown on Depressive Symptoms among Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

This study investigated the impact of stay-at-home orders on depressive symptoms among community-dwelling older adults during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. A questionnaire was administered to older adults living in Ayase City, Kanagawa Prefecture, in July 2020, after the Japanese government declared its first COVID-19 state of emergency and stay-at-home order. In a sample of 1056 people, 69.

[Methods of coping with musculoskeletal pain among community-dwelling elderly individuals].

Objectives　Musculoskeletal pain impairs vital function and results in a requirement for long-term care. According to studies in other countries, a program that aims at reducing pain through instructions for pain-coping should be implemented. In Japan, a study on pain-coping has recently been initiated; however, the methods of coping with pain that are implemented by community-dwelling elderly individuals have not been evaluated.

[Association between physical function and musculoskeletal pain in community-dwelling elderly people].

Aim: To examine the associations among the presence, level, and the duration of pain, the number of painful areas and physical function in elderly patients.

Methods: The participants in this study were 351 men and women aged 75 years orolder who were living in the community. Participants were interviewed about the presence, level, number of painful areas and duration of pain.

The predictive power of physical function assessed by questionnaire and physical performance measures for subsequent disability.

Background And Aims: To compare the predictive power of physical function assessed by questionnaire and physical performance measures for subsequent disability in community-dwelling elderly persons.

Methods: Prospective cohort study. Participants were 813 aged 70 years and older, elderly Japanese residing in the community, included in the Tsurugaya Project, who were not disabled at the baseline in 2003.

[Relationships between participation in community activities and psychosocial and physical health of community-dwelling elderly].

Objective: The aim of this study was to clarify relationships between participation in community activities and psychosocial and physical health of community-dwelling elderly.

Methods: The participants of the present study were 413 people selected on the basis of a random 1/3 extraction of people aged 65 or older and living in a rural community in Miyagi prefecture. The baseline survey was conducted in February 2008.

[Community participation is associated with life satisfaction in elderly people with diabetes mellitus].

Methods: Comprehensive questionnaires encompassing physical, psychological, and social aspects were administered by interview to 56 elderly outpatients with diabetes mellitus. Life satisfaction was assessed using the Life Satisfaction Index K (LSIK) . We also assessed the emotional and instrumental social support provided by the families living along with the participants or living separately from the participants.

Effect of exercise, aging and functional capacity on acute secretory immunoglobulin A response in elderly people over 75 years of age.

Background: Age-associated decline in immune function and regulation, referred to as immunosenescence, brings about an increased incidence of infectious diseases in the aged; however, there are few data on the effect of aging and exercise on mucosal immune function in elderly people. Moreover, there is no evidence on whether the change in functional capacity affects mucosal immunity in elderly people. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the effects of exercise, aging and functional capacity on mucosal immune function in elderly people over 75 years of age.

[Relationships between volunteerism and social-physical health and QOL with community-dwelling elderly participating in a long-term care prevention programme].

Objective: The aim of this study was to clarify the influence of volunteerism as part of a long-term care prevention program on social and physical health indicators and QOL, as compared with non-participation among elderly people.

Methods: The baseline survey was conducted in 2003 among elderly people (age, 70-84 years) living in a rural community in Miyagi Prefecture. We recruited elderly volunteer leaders for long-term care prevention from among the 1,503 elderly people participating in the baseline survey.

[Effectiveness of ability grouping in structured fall prevention exercise program for frail elderly people].

Aim: To assess the effectiveness of ability grouping in a fall prevention structured exercise program for elderly people.

Methods: We enrolled 124 subjects from among 2,582 elderly people aged 70 to 84 years living in the Tsurugaya district in Sendai City. Exclusion criteria were 1) motor fitness scale (MFS) score 9 points or more, 2) severe sensory, cognitive, or 3) physical disorders, and 4) nursing care grade 2 or more.

[Production of a fall prevention exercise programme considering suggestions from community-dwelling elderly].

Objectives: A fall prevention exercise programme, which elderly persons could undertake in their home alone to maintain and improve leg muscle strength, body balance ability and flexibility, was developed. The programme consisted of number of movements from which the best were selected on the basis of participant evaluation. The purpose of this report is to document the actual contents and an examination of the effects of this exercise programme in elderly people.

[Characteristics of elderly leaders volunteering to participate in a fall prevention programme].

Objectives: This study was conducted to assess characteristics of elderly leaders volunteering to participate in a fall prevention programme.

Methods: We surveyed 1,503 individuals (75 elderly leaders volunteering to participate in a fall prevention programme and 1,428 non-leader elderly) among the elderly population living in a rural community, Miyagi Prefecture. Subjects were aged 70-84 years.

[Effects of dietary variety on declines in high-level functional capacity in elderly people living in a community].

Objective: The purpose of the investigation was to assess effects of dietary variety on declines in high-level functional capacity in community dwelling elderly, based on a 5-year longitudinal study (from 1992 to 1997).

Subjects And Method: Subjects were a representative sample comprising 235 men (mean age 70.8 years) and 373 women (71.

Longitudinal changes in higher-level functional capacity of an older population living in a Japanese urban community.

This study examined the present state and longitudinal changes in higher-level functional capacity in a Japanese urban community. Persons aged 65-84 years living in a suburb of central Tokyo participated in a baseline survey held in 1991 (n = 814) and followed-up for 8 years. Outcome measures were disabilities in: instrumental self-maintenance (IADL), the intellectual activity scale (intellectual activity) and the social role scale (social role), as measured by subscales of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence (TMIG-index of competence).

[Test-retest variation in the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence in community-dwelling older people independent in daily living toward individual assessment of functional capacity].

Objectives: To assess individual variation in the functional capacity of community-dwelling older people who are almost independent in daily living, using the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence (TMIG-Index of Competence).

Methods: Out of 74 elderly outpatients showing a total score of TMIG-Index of Competence above 10 points at baseline, 61 who remained stable during subsequent two months in terms of medical and social aspects were assessed for their functional capacity with the test-retest method using the TMIG-Index of Competence. We assessed individual variation between the tests of one month interval with correspondence rate.

[The effects of daily physical activity on QOL in the elderly].

Objective: To ascertain the meaning and the influence of daily physical activity on QOL among the elderly, we surveyed their lifestyle exercise habits, cross-sectionally and longitudinally.

Methods: The subjects of this study were all residents living in a certain suburb of Nagoya-city, aged 63, 68, 73, 78, 83 years of age. They answered questionnaires regarding their exercise, physical activity, and QOL with six categories.