Publications by authors named "Kumi Miura"
Background: Social isolation and loneliness can co-occur; however, they are distinct concepts. There is discrepancy as some people feel lonely in social isolation, while others do not. This study sought to enhance our understanding of this discrepancy between social isolation and loneliness by investigating its related factors, with a specific focus on mental status and personality traits.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Frailty is a multifactorial syndrome; through this study, we aimed to investigate the physiological, psychological, and social factors associated with frailty and frailty worsening in community-dwelling older adults.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional and longitudinal study using data from the "Community Empowerment and Well-Being and Healthy Long-term Care: Evidence from a Cohort Study (CEC)," which focuses on community dwellers aged 65 and above in Japan. The sample of the cross-sectional study was drawn from a CEC study conducted in 2014 with a total of 673 participants.
Background: Social communication is a key factor in maintaining cognitive function and contributes to well-being in later life.
Objective: This study will examine the effects of "Photo-Integrated Conversation Moderated by Application version 2" (PICMOA-2), which is a web-based conversational intervention, on cognitive performance, frailty, and social and psychological indicators among community-dwelling older adults.
Methods: This study is a randomized controlled trial with an open-label, 2-parallel group trial and 1:1 allocation design.
Objective: This study aimed to explore the direct and indirect effects of social frailty on functional state trajectories mediated by subjective cognitive function in older adults.
Design: Longitudinal study.
Setting And Participants: Overall, 514 adults aged ≥65 years living in a suburban area of central Japan were included in this study.
Article Synopsis
- - The study examined how frailty and social relationships influence each other over time in older adults, analyzing data from 520 participants in Japan over six years.
- - Results showed that higher frailty levels were linked to poorer social relationships, and enhancements in social relationships were found to help reduce frailty symptoms.
- - The findings suggest integrating frailty improvement programs with social relationship interventions can help prevent or reduce frailty in older adults.
Background: Social activity is a key component in the prevention of cognitive decline. However, face-to-face social intervention has limited accessibility. To address this issue, we developed the "Photo-Integrated Conversation Moderated by Application" (PICMOA), a home-based group conversation intervention using smartphones.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: This study aimed to examine the longitudinal association between social relationships and physical functioning among community-dwelling older adults with chronic conditions.
Methods: Self-reported questionnaires were distributed and collected between 2014 and 2017 from participants ≥65 years old. The Index of Social Interaction was used to evaluate social relationships and the instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) subscale of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence was used to examine functional status.
Background: Social relationships may be the key to successful aging among older adults. However, little is known about the variability of social relationships among community-dwelling older people. This study aimed to describe the patterns of social relationships and examine the differences in sociodemographic characteristics and mental and physical health status among these patterns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- - Aging leads to a condition called sarcopenia, characterized by the loss of skeletal muscle mass and function, significantly affecting the quality of life for older adults and increasing hospitalization rates.
- - Caloric restriction (CR) has been found to counteract age-related changes and may delay the onset of sarcopenia, but research on its long-term effects on muscle atrophy is limited.
- - In a study comparing different age groups of rats, it was discovered that while advanced aging notably diminished muscle size and health, long-term CR successfully preserved muscle mass and fiber integrity, reducing the negative impacts of sarcopenia.
White adipose tissue (WAT) is important for maintenance of homeostasis, because it stores energy and secretes adipokines. The WAT of obese people demonstrates mitochondrial dysfunction, accompanied by oxidative stress, which leads to insulin resistance. WW domain-containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 1 (WWP1) is a member of the HECT-type E3 family of ubiquitin ligases and is associated with several diseases.
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