Objective: This study aimed to investigate the skeletal muscle characteristics of frailty and pre-frailty individuals from a multifaceted perspective and elucidate their features.

Methods: Seventy-three users of day-care rehabilitation services were categorized into the frailty and pre-frailty groups using the revised Japanese version of the Cardiovascular Health Study (J-CHS) criteria. The measurement items were skeletal muscle mass index (SMI), phase angle, knee extensor strength, Sit-to-stand-five test (SS-5), thigh muscle thickness, and muscle brightness. Group comparisons were performed using unpaired t-tests. Furthermore, binary logistic regression analysis was performed using frailty status as the dependent variable, and the cutoff value of SS-5 was examined using the receiver operating characteristic curve.

Results: The SMI, SS-5, and thigh muscle brightness had significant differences between both groups. Binary logistic regression analysis identified SS-5 (odds ratio 1.31, 95% confidence interval 1.03—1.47) as a significant variable, with a cutoff value of 14.6 s.

Conclusions: Evaluation of muscle power, such as rising from a chair task, is crucial for frailty and pre-frailty individuals, and the cutoff value of the SS-5, an indicator of muscle power, was elucidated.

Objective: In regular elementary school classes, 8.8% of students exhibit significant learning or behavioral problems that result in special education support needs. Amidst this, relationships have been clarified between children’s behavioral characteristics and new physical fitness measurements and between coordinative movements and balance abilities. However, research and support systems for preschool children remain insufficient. This study elucidates the relationship between behavior difficulties and motor characteristics in early childhood and explores appropriate childcare support methods.

Methods: Children aged five years (N =52) participated in the study.

Results: The results in boys indicated correlations between motor characteristics and all types of conduct, including hyperactivity/inattention, emotional issues, peer relationship problems, and prosocial behavior. Conversely, a correlation with motor characteristics was only observed for peer relationship problems in girls.

Conclusions: These findings indicate that 5-year-olds beginning to understand relationships with others from a self-centered world may address developmental challenges through engagement in physical play, suggesting that behavior difficulties can stimulate developmental tasks.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the functional characteristics of day-care service C (service C) users based on the relationship of their response to questions on the Kihon checklist.

Methods: We included 307 participants who were in their 70s and 80s and had used the service during the fiscal years (FYs) 2019–2021. A network analysis was performed on the participants’ Kihon checklist data to determine the betweenness centrality of each question item, and community structure was analyzed using the Girvan–Newman method. The analysis was conducted by age group in 2019, as well as 2020–21 (before and during the COVID-19 pandemic).

Results: The highest betweenness centrality values were found for the “frequency of going out” question in FY 2019, the “choking” and “exhaustion” questions in FY 2020–21 for respondents in their 70s, and the “exhaustion” question in both FY 2019 and 2020–21 for those in their 80s. For participants in their 80s in both years, question No. 8 on physical function was connected to the exhaustion question through another question. In 2020–21, community structure was detected based on questions about instrumental activities of daily living and isolation for both age groups.

Conclusions: The results confirmed that there were characteristics in the life functions of service users based on age and before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between ikigai and physical, social frailty in community-dwelling older females.

Methods: Sixty-six community-dwelling older females were included in the study. The revised J-CHS criteria were used to determine physical frailty. Makizako’s index was used to determine social frailty. Ikigai was assessed using the Ikigai-9 scale and compared between the physically robust and physical frailty group, and between the socially robust, social prefrailty, and social frailty group.

Results: The social frailty group had significantly lower Ikigai-9 scores than the social robust group (p < 0.05). On the other hand, no significant differences were found between the social prefrailty group and the socially robust and social frailty group. Also, there’s no difference on the Ikigai-9 between the physically robust group and the physical frailty group.

Conclusions: Ikigai was associated with social frailty. On the other hand, Ikigai was not related to physical frailty.