A Cross-Sectional Study of the Relationship of Timed Up & Go Test with Physical Characteristics and Physical Activity in Healthy Japanese: The Toon Health Study.

Haruhiko Osawa,Koutatsu Maruyama,Takeshi Tanigawa,Yuichi Uesugi,Yoshihiko Naito,Isao Saito,Yasunori Takata,Ryoichi Kawamura,Kiyohide Tomooka

doi:10.3390/healthcare9080933

Haruhiko Osawa, Koutatsu Maruyama + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9080933

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Abstract

This study evaluated the Timed Up & Go test (TUG) among healthy Japanese individuals without walking problems to clarify the relationship of TUG performance with physical characteristics and physical activity according to sex and age groups. In total, 797 men and women (30–84 years old) in Toon City, Ehime Prefecture, were assessed from 2016 to 2017. The survey data for physical characteristics, TUG performance, and physical activity measures were used. After adjusting for age according to TUG time and categorization into sex and age groups (30–64 and 65–84 years), the relationship of TUG performance with physical characteristics and physical activities was confirmed using multiple regression analysis. In men, TUG performance was associated with work and household chores in the 30–64-year age group, whereas it was only associated with skeletal muscle mass among those older than 65 years. In women, TUG performance was associated with height and amount of exercise, regardless of age. In conclusion, TUG performance may be maintained by increasing the amount of physical activity for men through work and housework, and increasing the amount of exercise for women, which may prevent the need for long-term care in the future.

Highlights

The proportion of the aged in the Japanese population is estimated to increase to 28.4%in 2020 and to further increase to 38.4% by 2065 [1]
The results show that housework chores improve TUG performance
This study evaluated TUG performance among healthy Japanese individuals without walking problems to clarify the relationship of TUG performance with physical characteristics and physical activity, by sex and age groups

Summary

Introduction

The proportion of the aged in the Japanese population is estimated to increase to 28.4%in 2020 and to further increase to 38.4% by 2065 [1]. The number of people certified for long-term care is increasing yearly, and was estimated at 6,282,000, with the elderly aged ≥ 75 years accounting for 31.9% of this population in 2017 [1]. In this scenario, it is clear that the number of people certified for long-term care will increase further, which would add pressure on the budgets of national and local governments [2]. We believe that preventive measures are necessary for the elderly and for healthy adults to ensure that individuals do not develop a disability that necessitates long-term care [3,4] Maintaining physical functions, such as muscle strength, is important for developing a healthy expected quality of life. 6-min walking test, locomotive syndrome risk test, and Timed Up & Go test (TUG) are used to measure physical function [5,6,7,8,9]

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