Combination of Thresholds of Vascular Function Tests for Prediction of Continuation of Independent Living in Elderly People in Okinawa's Longevity Region

Abstract

<h3>Research Objectives</h3> To clarify the standard values of the combination of factors for estimating healthy life expectancy, including the Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs), and the Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) as factors for estimating the "independent living impossible" among elderly people living independently in Ogimi Village who are over 85 years old. <h3>Design</h3> The study design was a short-term longitudinal study within a cohort study. The time period used for the analysis was for the follow-up period from September 2019 to December 2020. <h3>Setting</h3> The setting is the general community where is a traditional lifestyle in rural Okinawa Japan. <h3>Participants</h3> 20 participants.The subjects were older than 85 years of age who had a traditional lifestyle and continued to live independently as of 2019. <h3>Interventions</h3> Measurements of AGEs and PWV were conducted at the community center and at home. <h3>Main Outcome Measures</h3> Numbers of Independent living people, AGEs, and aortic-radial PWV. For statistical analysis, the optimal cutoff values for AGEs and PWV were determined from ROC curves for the two values of unable to live independently or able to live independently. The value with the maximum and the estimation performance was evaluated. <h3>Results</h3> The cutoff value for PWV for those in the R90 group who were no longer able to live independently (n=4) was 350 au (AUC=0.532), and AGEs was 11.0 m/sec (AUC=0.567). In 75% of the cases, both factors exceeded this cutoff value. No one reached the end of independent living in the category range of lower values for both factors than this cutoff value. <h3>Conclusions</h3> The existence of a category consisting of a combination of an AGEs and PWV was suggested as a factor for estimating "cases in which independent living becomes impossible" among elderly people aged 85 years or older in Ogimi Village. It is necessary to examine the possibility of extending independent living even in the very elderly by using further time-lapsed results to examine their cumulative effects. <h3>Author(s) Disclosures</h3> No conflicts of interest to be disclosed.