Association Between Moderate Physical Activity Level and Subsequent Frailty Incidence Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

Our study aimed to demonstrate the association between physical activity (PA) and frailty incidence among Japanese community-dwelling older adults with a narrow age range of 70-74 years. This study included 485 participants from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study. Frailty was assessed at baseline and 3 years later by using the Kaigo-Yobo Checklist. PA was assessed using the short-term International PA Questionnaire at baseline. Logistic regression was performed to calculate the odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals after adjusting for potential confounders. The associations of frailty scores with both PA volume and daily walking time presented a U-shaped curve, albeit only the latter was statistically significant. After adjusting for potential confounders, walking for 0.5-1 hr/day displayed a greater association with decreased frailty risk than higher levels of daily walking time. Further study is needed to cumulate the evidence that moderate PA levels may delay frailty incidence and improve the aging process.

Comparison of a new wrist-worn accelerometer with a commonly used triaxial accelerometer under free-living conditions.

OBJECTIVE: The Life Microscope is a new wristband-based life recorder system that can identify various human movements. We aimed to compare physical activity data captured using the Life Microscope with data from a commonly used accelerometer. RESULTS: Twenty-nine participants (34.6 ± 12.5 years) wore both the Life Microscope and an Active Style Pro accelerometer for 7 days. Physical activity categories were calculated by converting daily accelerometer data output into time spent at sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous physical activity. Correlations between the physical activity category and step count data obtained from the two accelerometers were assessed using Pearson correlations, paired t-tests, intra-class coefficients, and the Bland-Altman method. Our results showed good reliability between the physical activity patterns and daily step counts obtained using both devices. Bland-Altman analysis showed good agreement between data from both accelerometers. In conclusion, both accelerometers were comparable in their measurement of step counts and time spent in different physical activity intensities under free-living conditions, and either could be used for population studies.

Dietary patterns among Japanese adults: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Survey, 2012.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Recent studies have analyzed dietary patterns to assess overall dietary habits, but there have been no studies of dietary patterns among the contemporary Japanese population nationwide. The objective of this study was to identify dietary patterns based on consumption of food items among Japanese adults, and to examine whether these dietary patterns were associated with nutrient intake, demographic characteristics, and lifestyle factors. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: The study population included 25,754 Japanese adults aged 20 years and older registered in the nationwide National Health and Nutrition Survey database in 2012. Dietary patterns were analyzed by factor analysis of 29 food items from the dietary intake survey and household-based semiweighed dietary records. RESULTS: Five dietary patterns were identified: high-bread and low-rice, high-meat and low-fish, vegetable, wheat-based food, and noodle and alcohol patterns. The lowest quartile of factor scores for high-meat and low-fish, wheat-based food, and noodle and alcohol patterns had higher nutrient intakes, and the highest quartile of factor scores for the vegetable pattern had a higher nutrient intake overall (all p<0.01). Dietary pattern scores were associated with demographic and lifestyle factors such as sex, age, region, smoking status, and alcohol intake. CONCLUSIONS: Five major dietary patterns among Japanese adults were identified by factor analysis. Dietary pattern scores were associated with differences in nutrient intakes and demographic and lifestyle factors. These patterns were further used for examining the association between Japanese diets and health outcomes.

[Regional differences in mortality and food and nutrient intake and their associations among secondary healthcare service areas in Hokkaido].

Objective　Hokkaido is a geographically vast area comprising a variety of natural environments and major industries. Therefore, we presume that there are large differences in lifestyles and lifestyle-related disease mortality in community people based on region. The aim of this study was to investigate the regional differences in mortality and food and nutrient intake, and their associations among secondary healthcare service areas in Hokkaido.Methods　This study's design was ecological. We collected mortality data using public health statistics from the year 2005 to 2009 of the Hokkaido prefecture. We calculated the average of the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) over those five years. Data on food and nutrient intake were obtained from the Hokkaido Health and Nutrition Survey in 2006 conducted in the Hokkaido prefecture. The association between mortality and nutritional status was examined using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient.Results　The mortality rates were higher in the southern and eastern areas of Hokkaido and in the lower internal area in the northern area of Hokkaido and the Tokachi area. There were regional differences of 400-500 kcal of energy, 20-30 g of protein, 4-5 g of salt, 60 g of green and yellow vegetables, and 100 g of other vegetables among 21 secondary healthcare service areas in Hokkaido.　In women alone, we observed a positive association between cancer mortality and fat intake from dairy products. By contrast, we observed an inverse, significant association between cancer mortality and rice intake, and cardiovascular mortality and soybean and soybean product intake, only in women.Conclusion　We present regional differences in mortality and food and nutrient intake among secondary healthcare areas in Hokkaido. We also reveal a significant association between mortality and food and nutrient intake only in women. Further research is needed to examine whether socioeconomic, environmental, or other lifestyle factors are associated with regional health gaps.

The association between social participation and cognitive function in community-dwelling older populations: Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study at Taisetsu community Hokkaido.

OBJECTIVE: To study the association between the number of area-level and individual-level social participation items and cognitive function in the community-dwelling older populations of three towns in Hokkaido, Japan. METHODS: A survey on the frequency of social participation was mailed to those in the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study 2013 who were aged ≥65 years, were not certified as needing long-term care, and lived in Higashikawa, Higashikagura, or Biei. A subset of participants aged 70-74 years completed the Japanese version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment in a home visit survey. Both the area-level and individual-level social participation and demographic information were obtained on the self-administered questionnaire. A multilevel analysis using a generalized linear mixed-effects model was used to examine the association between variables in the area-level and individual-level social participation items and cognitive function. RESULTS: Out of 4042 respondents, data from 2576 were used in the area-level analysis. Of those, 180 were aged 70-74 years and completed the home visit survey for the individual-level analysis. A greater number of higher social participation items at the individual level was associated with higher cognitive function scores after adjusting for area-level social participation variables and confounders (regression coefficient: 0.19; 95% confidence interval: 0.03, 0.35). There were no significant associations between area-level social participation item averages and individual-level cognitive function scores. CONCLUSIONS: Older populations participating in many kinds of social activities exhibited preserved cognitive function even after adjusting for area-level social participation variables. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Influence of different methods for measuring HbA1c on health checkups in a rural town in Hokkaido, Japan.

Using data on health checkups performed in one Japanese town, we investigated the effect on health checkups of the methods used to measure hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). The study included 337 participants undergoing health checkups at two facilities. At facility 1, HbA1c was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in 2012 and by immunoassay (IA) in 2013, while at facility 2, HbA1c was measured by HPLC in both years. At facility 1, the mean HbA1c was significantly decreased from 2012 to 2013 (5.83 vs 5.50 %, respectively; P < 0.001), although the mean fasting plasma glucose (FPG) was significantly increased from 2012 to 2013 (91.7 vs 95.2 mg/dL, respectively; P = 0.02). Of the 202 participants at facility 1, 97 who had an HbA1c of ≥5.6 % in 2012 had an HbA1c of <5.6 % in 2013. At facility 2, the mean HbA1c marginally increased, while there were similar FPG levels in both years. An additional study of single blood samples from 27 healthy participants who were tested at the same facility using both HPLC and IA found that the mean HbA1c was significantly lower for IA than for HPLC (5.19 vs 5.50 %, respectively; P < 0.001). In summary, we found a substantial decrease in the mean HbA1c and the prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes mellitus in study participants who underwent health checkups for two consecutive years when different methods were used to measure HbA1c. The lack of standardization of HbA1c measurement methods may have a large effect on health checkups.