Article ID: 11253
Purpose: The aims of this study were to modify the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) to validate its use with community-dwelling Japanese older adults and to examine the impact of the modified SPPB based on a community-based score (SPPB-com) on a scale assessing the new onset of need of care according to long-term care insurance (LTCI).
Methods: A population of 4,328 community-dwelling older individuals (mean age = 71.8 years) participated in this prospective study. The participants were assessed using the original version of the SPPB (0-12 points) at baseline assessment and were followed up with for 24 months to examine the new onset of need of care according to LTCI. The SPPB-com (0-10 points), as the modified version of the SPPB, was calculated based on this sample’s performance on SPPB components including walking speed, chair stand test, and standing balance.
Results: Of the 4,328 participants, 78.7% achieved a perfect score (12 points) on the original SPPB, while 10.5% achieved a perfect score (10 points) on the SPPB-com. The participants who scored less than 4 points on the SPPB-com showed the greatest incident rates of onset of need of care during the 24-month follow-up period (12.8%). In the adjusted model, which included potential covariates, age, sex (women), Mini-Mental State Examination scores, and SPPB-com scores were significantly related to increased risk of the new onset of need of care.
Conclusion: The SPPB-com, which was modified to validate its use for community-dwelling Japanese older adults, may be useful in evaluating greater risks of disability.
