Purpose This study was conducted to examine the effect of increased physical and/or intellectual activities on changes in cognitive function in elderly dwellers.
Methods The subjects comprised 61 residents aged 65 or over living in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, who took part in a community-based dementia prevention class aimed at increasing both physical and intellectual activities. Physical activity was evaluated by the number of daily steps using a pedometer. Intellectual activity was evaluated by the number of pictures taken by a cellular phone and/or submitted through an internet “Dress” system by cellular phone. These activities were classified into two groups (higher and lower activity groups) according to whether above or below the respective median value. For assessment, the subjects underwent tests of physical and cognitive functions before and after the 7-weeks intervention.
Results Subjects with a greater increment in physical activity during the intervention period showed a greater improvement in usual and maximal walking speed than did those with a lesser increment in physical activity. Analysis using the general linear model demonstrated that increase in physical activity independently correlated with improvement in physical function, but did not correlate with cognitive function. Subjects with a greater increment in intellectual activity showed a greater improvement in weight, BMI and trail making test-task B. This association was independent of potential confounders. Further, those who used the “Dress” system more often showed a greater improvement in stress coping tests. Analysis using a general linear model indicated that increased intellectual activity was independently associated with changes in cognitive and mental function.
Conclusion The present findings suggest that community-based dementia prevention classes should be stressed not only for increasing physical activity but also in order to stimulate intellectual activity.

View full abstract

Purpose This study was undertaken to clarify to what extentintervention by dental hygienist visits and leaflet mailing, once or three times a year, increased the dental health scores of Tobishima Village residents in a 3 year period.
Methods The oral health status and oral health score (the Oral Salutogenic Score) of 786 residents were examined in May, 2004. Of the total, 446 people had oral health scores equal to or less than 15. They were divided into three groups at random, receiving: dental hygienist visits (visit group); leaflet mailing three times a year (three times mail group); and leaflet mailing only once a year (single mail group).
 Oral health status and scores were examined a second time by dentists in May, 2007 and average increases of scores over 3 years were calculated for each of the three groups. The Mann-Whitney test and cost—effectiveness analysis were employed for comparisons.
Results The average increase in oral health score was 46.2±8.1% for the visit group, 31.2±4.4% for the three times mail group and 25.0±5.2% single mail group over 3 years.
 The visit group value was significantly higher than the single mail group (P<0.05). Of the residents who had an oral health score equal to or less than 15 points, increase of their oral health score those who received a dental hygienist visit had a higher than the groups who were sent leaflets. With the latter, the greater frequency of leaflet distribution was more effective for increasing the oral health score.
Conclusion It was concluded that visits by dental hygienists are more effective than mailing of leaflets. In addition, mailing 2 or 3 times a year is more effective than once a year.

View full abstract

Purpose The study purpose was to establish the number (and type) of days needed to estimate mean pedometer-determined steps/day among Japanese adults.
Methods During June and August of 2008, seven days of data were collected from 223 participants in S Center between 20 and 64 years old and living in Shizuoka Prefecture (63 males, age=50.3±10.4 years, BMI=25.8±3.7 kg/m²; 160 females, age=49.0±10.6 years, BMI=23.5±3.8 kg/m²)). Mean steps/day were computed for all 7 days, each single day, and combinations of days. Analyses used in this study were repeated measures analysis of variance, intra-class correlations (ICC) and regression analyses.
Results The study participants averaged 8,854±3,356 steps/day over the 7-day monitoring frame. There were no gender differences in steps/day for any days of the week or for the weekly average of steps/day. There was a significant difference (F=3.91, df=5.21, P<0.001) between days for the total sample, Tuesday and Friday showing significantly more steps than Saturday and Sunday (P<0.001). ICC analyses found a minimum of 3 days is necessary to achieve a reliability of 0.80. The adjusted R2 of 35 models for 3 days were all 0.80 or more.
Conclusion This study suggests any 3 days at random can provide a sufficient estimate tor predict weekly physical activity among Japanese adults. Further studies on sample size and survey period are now required.

View full abstract