2017 Volume 20 Issue 2 Pages 4-11
Objectives: To explore the risk factors to locomotive syndrome among community-dwelling middle-aged people in an urban area and to suggest health promotion activities for the middle-aged.
Method: This cross-sectional study involved general citizens aged from 40 to 64 years in Yokohama City, with a self-administered questionnaire by mail and physical performance tests. Data were collected on presence of locomotive syndrome stage 1（LS）by index of stand-up test as dependent variables, demographics, physical characteristics（blood pressure, grip strength, body mass index（BMI）, perceived ill-health）, and social characteristics（scale of social activities, awareness of social resource）as independent variables. The logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore risk factors to locomotive syndrome.
Results: A total of 160 people participated in both primary and secondary surveys. The mean±SD age was 55.5±7.3 years, and 53（33.1%）were male. The prevalence of LS was 28.1%. The logistic regression analysis indicated that BMI（OR=3.75, 95%CI: 1.44-9.73）, perceived ill-health（OR=0.75, 95%CI: 0.57-0.99）, social activities,（OR=0.83, 95%CI: 0.70-0.97）, awareness of social resource（OR=3.76 95%CI: 1.69-8.37）were risk factors to LS.
Discussion: The present study demonstrated that 30% of middle-aged people are faced with the risk of locomotive syndrome. It is suggested that health practitioners should develop the interventions to modify or maintain lifestyle, and to create social activities for middle-aged people.
