The purpose of this study was to longitudinally examine the physical function of community-dwelling older women with bone and muscle mass loss. A total of １０5 older women aged ≥65 years, who participated in physical fitness sessions held in ２０１8 and ２０１9, were included in the study. The criterion for bone loss was a T-score ≤-2.5, and muscle loss was defined as a limb skeletal muscle index of <5.7 kg/m². Based on body composition at 1 year, participants were divided into four groups: bone and muscle loss group, muscle loss-only group, bone loss-only group, and normal group. Their physical function at baseline were compared. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted using the four body composition groups as dependent variables. The results showed that body mass index (BMI), grip strength, and normal walking speed were significantly affected in the bone and muscle loss group. These suggest that low BMI, low grip strength, and slow normal walking speed affect the older women with progressive bone and muscle loss.

The purpose of this study was to examine the reproducibility and validity of using a markerless motion capture system to measure femorotibial angle (FTA). The experimental units included 36 legs of 18 healthy young adult males (mean age 20.4 ± 0.6 years). We measured FTA using markerless motion capture and optical motion capture. Reproducibility was assessed by the intraclass correlation coefficient using the testretest method, and validity was evaluated using the Pearson correlation coefficient. The results of the analysis indicated that FTA measured using markerless motion capture and optical motion capture had high reproducibility（ICC： 0.74，0.97）. Additionally, significant strong positive correlations were found between FTA measured using optical motion capture and markerless motion capture（r=0.74，p ＜0.01）. These results indicate that FTA measured by markerless motion capture has excellent reproducibility and high validity as an estimation of knee joint position in the frontal plane.

[Objective] The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that influence the ability of patients with spinal compression fractures to walk at discharge. The subjects were 123 spinal compression fracture patients aged 75 years or older who were ambulatory and independent before hospitalization. The assessment items included age, gender, HDS-R, skeletal muscle mass index (SMI), activity coefficient (METs), FIM motor items (FIM-M), grip strength, and ability to walk before injury. Factors affecting walking independence at hospital discharge were analyzed by logistic regression, and cutoff values for determining whether walking independence was possible or not were examined based on ROC curves. It was found that the HDS-R and FIM-M were related to the availability of walking independence at discharge. The cutoff values of the HDS-R and FIM-M were 17.5 and 32.5 points, respectively. Conclusions] The results of this study indicate that spinal compression tracture patients with good cognitive function and ADL at admission are able to walk at discharge.

Our objective in this study was to identify valid physical fitness age (PFA) from measurements that can be obtained without the use of any special equipment in care-dependency prevention projects. The participants were 73 women aged between 60 and 79 years who were enrolled in care-dependency prevention projects. PFA was calculated using grip strength, sit-and-reach distance, the time for one-leg standing with eyes open, and the results of the 30-second chair stand test and Timed Up & Go Test. To investigate the validity of PFA, we also measured body composition, quadriceps femoris strength, and walking speed and performed the Mini-Mental State Examination and Trail Making Test-A as cognitive function tests. We conducted statistical analysis to investigate the association between actual age and PFA for each parameter measured. Further, we divided the participants into two groups depending on whether their PFA was lower or higher than their actual age and used an unpaired t-test to compare the measurements between these groups. Our results confirmed that PFA is an index that reflects the overall physical fitness and mental status of older people and showed that PFA is a simple and effective means of enabling older people to understand their own level of physical fitness.

Objective: Patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) frequently show impairment in physical function. The effects of anxiety about the COVID-１9 infection on physical function have been reported among healthy individuals. Here, we focused on allo-HSCT patients to examine whether the anxiety during the spread of COVID-１9 infection is related to the recovery of physical function in allo-HSCT recipients. Methods: Twenty-five patients who had undergone allo-HSCT at our hospital. Physical function was assessed by 6-min walking distance (6MWD) and anxiety survey was performed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) to evaluate anxiety before and １8０ days after transplantation. Participants were dichotomized according to the STAI stage as follows: high anxiety group and non-high anxiety group. We analyzed the relationship between the rate of change of physical function at １8０ days after allo-HSCT and STAI stage. Results: The change rates of 6WMD were significantly poorer in the high anxiety group than those in the non-high anxiety group (93.5±１2.0% vs. １１０.5±１8.0%, p<0.０5). Conclusion: Among after allo-HSCT patients, recovery of physical function was significantly lower in patients with high anxiety during the COVID-１9 pandemic.

This study aimed to identify the characteristics of elderly people with fall experience who have low fall self-efficacy relative to balance ability. A total of 144 community-dwelling elderly participants were included in the study and their fall selfefficacy was assessed using the Falling Self-Efficacy Scale (FSE) and their history of falls in the past year. Then, the balance ability was evaluated using the Mini-BESTest. No significant differences were observed between the non-fall and fall groups in the MiniBESTest and FSE scores. In the fall group, those with a balance ability that matched their fall self-efficacy (matched group) were compared with those with fall self-efficacy lower than their balance ability (discrepant group). The results showed that the discrepant group showed significantly lower scores in the total score of FSE, “crouching,” “walking in shoes that are difficult to walk in,” and “climbing stairs without handrails” than the matched group, and the effect sizes of these items were larger. These results suggest that community-dwelling elderly people with low fall self-efficacy for balance ability have lower self-efficacy for activities they have few experiences in daily life.