The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between longitudinal changes in 6-minute walk distance and physical function in elderly people requiring long-term care. The subjects were 93 elderly people (age: 81.8±6.5 years, 33 males and 60 females) requiring long-term care who use outpatient rehabilitation. Those who improved their 6-minute walk distance by at least 17.8 m from baseline to 6 months were defined as the improvement group (n=52), and the others were defined as the nonimprovement group (n=41). A repeated measures two-way ANOVA was performed with group (improving and non-improving groups) and time (baseline and 6 months later) as the two factors. The results showed an interaction effect on quadriceps muscle strength,walking speed, and TUG. Only the improvement group showed significant improvement after 6 months for all items. In addition, many items showed moderate effect sizes.These results indicate that improvement in the 6-minute walk distance in elderly people requiring long-term care is associated with improvement in a complex of physicalfunctions such as quadriceps muscle strength, walking speed, and dynamic balance ability.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between self-rated health and lifestyle habits in men university students. A questionnaire survey was conducted on self-rated health and lifestyle habits of 150 men university students with no medical history. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the factors related to self-rated health. The five items were balance, meal regularity, and sleep satisfaction. Based on these findings, the self-rated health of men university students is related to physical and mental health, diet, and sleep. was shown to be important.

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Objective: This study aimed to determine the association between weight loss and physical function and quality of life (QOL) in elderly patients with hematologic malignancies in a ward with a physical therapist. Methods: Two hundred and twenty patients undergoing chemotherapy were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of weight loss during hospitalization, and compared in terms of occurrence of adverse events. Furthermore, at admission and discharge, changes in physical function (grip strength, standing balance, and gait independence) and quality of life were compared using Two-way Analysis of Variance. Results: Weight loss group had more adverse events. Two-way Analysis of Variance showed no significant differences in either main effect or group interaction effects. Main effect of time was observed for gait independence and QOL, with both groups improving at discharge. Conclusion: Weight loss group in this study had a higher incidence of adverse events. However, physical function and quality of life of patients with weight loss were maintained and improved in a ward with a physical therapist. The placement of physical therapists in hospital wards may contribute to preventing a decline in physical function and quality of life during hospitalization.

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[Purpose] The purpose of this study is investigated the effects of continuous instructor’s volunteer activities in disability prevention program “Silver Rehab Exercises” on physical and psychological functions in the elderly. [Subjects and methods] The subjects of this study were the elderly persons of “Silver Rehab Exercises Instructor” and divided into two groups with presence or absence of instructor's activity. One-leg standing time, grip strength, K6, K-I, and POMS2®-Adult Short questionnaires were assessed from after instructor training course and after one year from starting course. [Results] In after one year from starting course, one-leg standing time, grip strength,depression (POMS2®-Adult Short questionnaires) in activity group were significantly good condition than these in no activity group. [Conclusion] It is assumed that the physical and psychological function in the elderly was maintained and improved by continuous instructor’s volunteer activities in disability prevention program “Silver Rehab Exercises”.

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OBJECTIVE: The aim of this non-inferiority study was to determine whether wearing a non-woven mask during exercise results in inferior peak oxygen uptake (Peak V ・ O2/kg) compared to not wearing a mask. METHODS: A total of 29 healthy young men (age 20.7 ± 0.8 years, BMI 21.8 ± 3.0 kg/m2) underwent cardiopulmonary exercise tests using a ramp protocol, with and without wearing a non-woven mask. The evaluation indices included V ・O2/kg, carbon dioxide output (V ・CO2), heart rate (HR), respiration rate (RR), minute ventilation (V ・E), end-tidal oxygen tension, end-tidal carbon dioxide tension, transcutaneous oxygen saturation, and the Borg scale for dyspnea and lower extremity fatigue. A non-inferiority test for Peak V ・O2/kg was conducted to compare the non-woven mask condition with the no-mask condition. RESULTS: The results of the non-inferiority test showed that Peak V ・O2/kg (mean difference [95% confidence interval], 1.08 [-0.77 to 2.93]) was within the upper limit of the non-inferiority margin (3.5 mL/kg/min), indicating that wearing a non-woven mask during exercise is not inferior to exercising without a mask in terms of Peak V ・O2/kg. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that wearing a non-woven mask during exercise does not result in decreased Peak V ・O2/kg compared to exercising without a mask.

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The first aim of this study was to examine the association between lower extremity muscle strength and gait speed in 33 older adults in residential private nursing home. The second aim was to examine the effect of differences in the lower extremity muscle strength (poor, average and good) on the association between lower extremity muscle strength and gait speed. Lower extremity muscle strength was measured by 30-sec Chair-Stand test (CS-30). Gait parameters were measured as gait speed, cadence, stride length, step length, step width, toe-out angle, foot angle, ground contact time, double support time, and swing time. The results of the comparison between the three groups showed that there were significant differences between the groups for lower extremity muscle strength, gait speed, cadence, stride length, step length, step width, foot angle, ground contact time and double support time. Spearman's rank correlation analysis in each group showed a significant positive correlation between lower extremity muscle strength and gait speed only in the poor group. Gait speed was shown to decrease as lower extremity muscle strength decreased, and the relationship between lower extremity muscle strength and gait speed varied according to differences in the lower extremity muscle strength.

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