Long-term Care Insurance Certification Research Articles

Prevalence and Prognostic Impact of Multiple Frailty Domain in Japanese Older Adults

ObjectivesIn this observational study, we aimed to evaluate the independent and overlapping effects of multiple frailty domains on long-term care insurance (LTCI) use. DesignPopulation-based cohort design. Setting and ParticipantsIn total, 9804 community-dwelling older adults were recruited from the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology-Study of Geriatric Syndromes. MethodsThe physical domain of frailty was assessed using the revised Japanese version of the Cardiovascular Health Study criteria. The cognitive domain of frailty was identified as impairment of memory, attention, executive function, or processing speed using standardized thresholds established for each domain in population-based cohorts. The social domain was operationalized using the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology-Social Frailty Scale. The use of LTCI was prospectively determined over 60 months using data extracted from the Japanese long-term care insurance system. ResultsThe data from 7745 participants were analyzed, of whom 793 (10.2%) required LTCI certification within 60 months (interquartile range: 60–60 months). The Kaplan–Meier curve analysis demonstrated that a high number of frailty domains was associated with incident LTCI use. The proportions of incident LTCI use were 6.0%, 12.4%, 30.1%, and 43.9% for non-frail participants and those with impairments in 1, 2, and 3 frailty domains, respectively. In the multivariate Cox regression model, physical, cognitive, and social domain impairments independently increased the risk of incident LTCI use [physical domain impairment, hazard ratio (HR), 1.67; 95% CI, 1.39–2.01; cognitive domain impairment, HR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.37–1.84; social domain impairment, HR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.05–1.50]. Conclusions and ImplicationsOverlapping frailty domains were strongly associated with incident LTCI use among community-dwelling older adults. These findings emphasize the importance of assessing multiple frailty domains and tailoring interventions according to the unique circumstances of older adults to prevent functional disabilities.

Decrease in the usual walking speed and body fat percentage associated with a deterioration in long-term care insurance certification levels.

In Japan, the number of older adults requiring long-term care insurance (LTCI) is increasing and the cost is becoming a social problem. In these fields, the role of geriatric rehabilitation includes maintaining the physical function and LTCI certification levels. The prevalence of sarcopenia is high among older adults requiring LTCI certification, and there are many opportunities to assess the handgrip strength, walking speed, and muscle mass. This study aimed to identify sarcopenia-related assessments sensitive to transitions in LTCI certification levels and determine cut-off values to predict them. This prospective cohort study analyzed 98 daycare users (mean age±standard error: 78.5±0.8 years) between March 2019 and 2023. The participants received LTCI certification before the study, and their levels were renewed between baseline and follow-up (six months later). The measurements included handgrip strength, usual walking speed, body composition, and SARC-F score. Participants were classified into maintenance, deterioration, and improvement groups according to the changes in their LTCI certification levels. We identified factors contributing to the deterioration of LTCI certification levels using baseline and before and after comparisons, multivariate analyses, and receiver operating characteristic analyses. No significant differences were observed in the baseline data among the groups. Only the deterioration group showed significant changes in the usual walking speed (baseline: 0.64±0.25 m/s, follow-up: 0.53±0.21 m/s, P = 0.008) and body fat percentage (baseline: 29.2±9.9%, follow-up: 27.7±10.3%, P = 0.047). Binomial logistic regression showed that changes in usual walking speed (P = 0.042) and body fat percentage (P = 0.011) were significantly associated with the deterioration of LTCI certification levels, even after adjustment. The cutoff values of change to discriminate the deterioration of LTCI certification levels were -0.14 m/s at the usual walking speed (P = 0.047) and -1.0% for body fat percentage (P = 0.029). Decreases in usual walking speed and body fat percentage may predict worse certification levels in older adults requiring LTCI.

Longitudinal association between frequency of Internet use and incident disability among community-dwelling older people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There is limited evidence of a protective effect of Internet use for incident disability (ID) during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated the association between frequency of Internet use (FIU) and ID among community-dwelling older people. We used longitudinal data from the 2019 and 2022 surveys, including 7,913 residents aged ≥65 without disability at baseline. ID was defined as a new public long-term care insurance certification. FIU at baseline was categorized into daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and non-users. Changes in FIU before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were categorized into continuing frequent (i.e., daily or weekly), continuing moderate (i.e., monthly or yearly), increase in frequency, from non-users to users, decrease in frequency, from users to non-users, and continuing non-users. Covariates included age, gender, education, perceived economic situation, family structure, body mass index, chronic medical conditions, dietary variety, working status, walking time, and cognitive functioning. Multivariable Poisson regression models were used to estimate adjusted cumulative incidence ratio (aCIR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for ID. During the 3-year follow-up, 132 of 4,453 people aged 65-74, 595 of 3,460 people aged ≥75, 287 of 3,660 men, and 440 of 4,253 women developed ID. For FIU at baseline, among people aged ≥75 or men, there was a dose-response relationship between more frequent Internet use at baseline and a lower risk of ID (P-trend was 0.005 in people aged ≥75, and <0.001 in men). Compared to non-users, daily users had a significantly lower risk of ID [aCIR (95% CI) = 0.69 (0.53-0.90) in people aged ≥75, and 0.49 (0.34-0.70) in men]. For changes in FIU, "continuing frequent" and "from non-users to users" had a lower risk of ID than continuing non-users. After stratified analyses, "continuing frequent" remained a significant association in people aged ≥75 or in men, while "from non-users to users" had a significant association in those with daily walking time <30 minutes. Although FIU may act as a marker of disability, or indicate individual adaptability, our findings suggest that Internet use may be a potential preventive measure against ID in community-dwelling older people when social distancing is required.

Self-Monitoring of Physical, Cognitive, and Social Activities and 2-Year Disability Onset in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Self-monitoring of physical, cognitive, and social activities may be a means of helping older adults to adopt or maintain an active lifestyle, but its effect on disability onset is unknown. This study aimed to examine the association between self-monitoring of the activities and disability onset in older adults. Longitudinal, observational study. General community setting. Participants were 1399 older adults aged ≥75years (mean age: 79.3 ± 3.6years; 48.1% female). Participants conducted self-monitoring of physical, cognitive, and social activities using a specialized booklet and a pedometer. Level of engagement in self-monitoring was assessed based on the percentage of days in a year for which activities were recorded: no-engagement group (0% of days recorded; n= 438), midlevel-engagement group (0.1-89.9% of days recorded; n= 416), and high-engagement group (≥90% of days recorded; n= 545). Disability onset was determined by whether the participants were awarded a long-term care insurance certification over the 2 years after the explanation of the booklet and pedometer. Cox proportional hazard regression models showed that the high-engagement group, when compared to the no-engagement group, had a significantly reduced hazard ratio (HR) for disability onset, after adjustment for covariates (HR 0.54, 95% CI 0.34-0.86, P= .010). After propensity score adjustment through inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) and propensity score matching (PSM), the high-engagement group's HR remained significantly lower (IPTW: HR 0.54, 95% CI 0.34-0.86, P= .010; PSM: HR 0.58, 95% CI 0.35-0.96, P= .032). Self-monitoring of physical, cognitive, and social activities reduces the risk of 2-year disability onset in community-dwelling older adults. Further studies in other settings are needed to examine whether self-monitoring of activities can be a population approach for the primary prevention of disability in other settings.

Relationship Between Medical Therapy, Long-Term Care Insurance, and Comorbidity in Elderly Patients With Heart Failure With Systolic Dysfunction.

Although guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT), including β-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi)/angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs), improves survival and quality of life, most patients with heart failure with reduced (HFrEF) and mildly reduced (HFmrEF) ejection fraction are treated with inadequate medications. We investigated the prescription patterns of GDMT in elderly patients with HFrEF and HFmrEF and their characteristics, including the certification of long-term care insurance (LTCI), which represents frailty and disability. This retrospective cross-sectional study analyzed 1,296 elderly patients with symptomatic HFrEF and HFmrEF with diuretic use (median age 78 years; 63.8% male; median left ventricular ejection fraction 40%). Prescription rates of GDMT were inadequate (ACEi, ARBs, β-blockers, and MRAs: 27.0%, 30.1%, 54.1%, and 41.9%, respectively). LTCI certification was independently associated with reduced prescription of all medications (ACEi/ARB: odds ratio [OR] 0.591, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.449-0.778, P=0.001; β-blockers: OR 0.698, 95% CI 0.529-0.920, P<0.001; MRAs: OR 0.743, 95% CI 0.560-0.985, P=0.052). Patients with LTCI certification also had a high prevalence of polypharmacy and prescription of diuretics. Vulnerable patients with LTCI may be an explanation for the challenges in implementing GDMT, and communicating is required for favorable heart failure care in this population.

Effect of social participation on the association between frailty and disability

ObjectivesTo examine whether social participation affects the association between frailty and disability. MethodsA baseline survey conducted from December 1 to 15, 2006, included 11,992 participants who were classified based on the Kihon Checklist into three categories and based on the number of activities in which they socially participated into four categories. The study outcome, incident functional disability, was defined as in Long-Term Care Insurance certification. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) for incident functional disability according to frailty and social participation categories. Combination analysis was performed between the nine groups using the above-mentioned Cox proportional hazards model. ResultsDuring the 13-year follow-up (107,170 person-years), 5,732 incident cases of functional disability were certified. Compared with the robust group, the other groups had significantly higher incident functional disability. However, the HRs for those participating in social activities were lower than that for those not participating in any activity [1.52 (pre-frail + none group); 1.31 (pre-frail + one activity group); 1.42 (pre-frail + two activities group); 1.37 (pre-frail + three activities group); 2.35 (frail + none group); 1.87 (frail + one activity group); 1.85 (frail + two activities group); and 1.71 (frail + three activities group)]. ConclusionsThe risk of functional disability for those participating in social activities was lower than that for those not participating in any activity, irrespective of being pre-frail or frail. Comprehensive social systems for disability prevention need to focus on social participation in frail older adults.

Prediction tool for disability progression and mortality in older adults eligible for Japanese long-term care insurance: Koriyama study.

This study aims to create a simple model for predicting disability progression and death among older adults with Japanese long-term care insurance certification. This retrospective study analyzed the anonymized data provided by Koriyama City. The participants were 7706 older adults who were initially certified to be support levels 1 and 2 or care levels 1 and 2 for the purpose of obtaining Japanese long-term care insurance. The results of the certification questionnaire at the initial survey stage were used to create decision tree models intended to predict whether disability progression and death would occur within 1 year. In support levels 1 and 2, among those who scored both "daily decision making" item as other than "possible" and the "taking drugs" item as other than "independent," 64.7% had an adverse outcome. In care levels 1 and 2, among those who scored both the "shopping" item as "totally dependent" and the "defecation" item as other than "independent," 58.6% had an adverse outcome. The accuracy of classification of the decision trees were 61.1% in support levels 1and 2, and 61.7% in care levels 1 and 2. The overall accuracy of the decision tree is low, making it impractical to use it for all subjects. Nevertheless, based on the results of the 2 assessments in this study, the process of identifying a particular group of older adults at a high risk of an increased need for long-term care or possible death within a year is very simple and useful.

Risk factors for nursing home admission among older adults: Analysis of basic movements and activities of daily living.

This retrospective study aimed to clarify the risk of older adults' nursing home placement in terms of basic movements and activities of daily living (ADLs) by analyzing data from a long-term care insurance certification survey in 2016‒2018 in City A. Of the 21,520 people certified as needing care, 16,865 could be followed up until 2018. Data on sex, age, household structure, and level of care required were obtained. Those who lived at home and at nursing homes were categorized as the "Unchanged group" and the "Changed group," respectively. Multivariate binomial logistic regression analysis was performed, with group type as the dependent variable and basic movement and ADL scores as the independent variables. For factor analysis according to care level, participants were classified into support need levels 1 and 2, care need levels 1 and 2, and care need levels 3, 4, and 5. For those categorized into support need levels 1 and 2, standing on one leg and transferring (basic movements) and urination and face cleaning (ADLs) were associated with nursing home placement. For those in care need levels 1 and 2, getting up and transferring (basic movements) and bathing, urination, face cleaning, and hair styling (ADL) were significantly associated with nursing home placement. For those in care need levels 3, 4, and 5, sitting and transferring (basic movements) and self-feeding and defecation (ADL) were significant. Occupational therapists must focus on older adults' declining ADLs and basic movements and relay the necessary information to patients, families, and other healthcare professionals to ensure appropriate and prompt care delivery.

Modifiable healthy behaviours and incident disability in older adults: Analysis of combined data from two cohort studies in Japan

Healthy behaviours reduce the risk of incident disability; however, their components require further consideration. Specifically, little evidence exists on healthy behaviours that comprise modifiable factors, including social aspects, and their effects on those who do not engage in them. This study aimed to examine the association between engaging in healthy behaviours with modifiable factors and incident disability among community-dwelling older adults; as well as identify factors associated with nonengagement in healthy behaviours. We analysed data obtained from 1357 older adults aged 65 years and more without disabilities at baseline. The outcome was incident disability, which was defined based on the long-term care insurance certification in Japan. This study included regular exercise (≥1 day/week), favourable eating habits (≥4 dietary variety score), and social participation (engaging in two or more social activities) as components of healthy behaviours. We used the Cox proportional hazards model to calculate hazard ratios (HR) for incident disabilities. The proportion of those who satisfied all healthy behaviours was 21 %. During the follow-up period (median: 6.3 years), 282 incident disabilities were confirmed. Compared to those who engaged in one healthy behaviour, those who satisfied all healthy behaviours showed a 31 % (95 % confidence interval: 0.48, 0.98) lower HR of incident disability after adjusting for covariates. Current smoking and depressive mood were associated with non-engagement in healthy behaviours. This study found that having physically and socially active lifestyles and favourable eating habits are effective in reducing the risk of incident disability. Meanwhile, several older adults lack the components of a healthy lifestyle. Approaches that focus on multiple healthy behaviours are necessary to enhance the benefits of healthy lifestyles.

Health check-up results, death, and occurrence of the need for nursing care among Japanese older adults: Analysis using the Kokuho Database system

Objectives The study aimed to clarify the association among health check-up results, death, and occurrence of the need for nursing care among Japanese older adults.Methods The participants were 24,909 males and 28,742 females. A medical system for late-stage older adults in the Tochigi Prefecture (Japan) insured, not qualified for long-term care insurance certification, and participated in health check-ups from April 2020 to March 2021. We recorded the occurrence of death and loss of independence from the date of health check-ups through the end of August 2021. Furthermore, we divided the participants into two groups based on the judgment value of medical consultation recommendations for the specified medical check-ups. In addition, we calculated 1-year survival and independence rates using the Kaplan-Meier method and estimated hazard ratios (HRs) of death and loss of independence using the Cox's proportional hazard model.Results During the follow-up, 424 cases of deaths (281 males and 143 females) and 1,011 cases of loss of independence (529 males and 482 females) were identified. In addition, 1-year survival and independence rates for low serum albumin were 0.920-0.958, with the lowest in both the sexes. The Cox's proportional hazards model after adjusting for age, body mass index, and responses to the late-stage older adult questionnaire revealed that HRs of death (3.05 [2.00-4.64]) and loss of independence (2.58 [1.87-3.56]) for low hemoglobin were the highest in males, and those of death (5.87 [2.45-14.07]) and loss of independence (3.00 [1.70-5.29]) for low serum albumin were particularly high in females. In a previous study analyzing the loss of independence among older adults who participated in health check-ups, HRs of death for low serum albumin and hemoglobin were 2.7 [1.2-6.0] and 1.8 [1.1-2.9], respectively, and the current study results showed a higher tendency than that in the previous study. In addition, previous studies showed an association between low serum albumin and stroke and low hemoglobin and death. However, in the current study, HRs for low serum albumin and hemoglobin could be particularly high because the Tochigi Prefecture has a high age-adjusted mortality rate for cerebrovascular and cardiac diseases, in addition to low nutrition among individuals with risk factors for these diseases.Conclusion This study found that low nutrition among older adults in the Tochigi Prefecture was highly associated with the occurrence of death and the need for nursing care. In addition, the trends in mortality and the risk of loss of independence among older adults differed by region.

Differential Associations of Frailty with the Incidence of Mild and Severe Disabilities in Older Adults: A 3-Year Cohort Study.

Frailty is associated with the incidence of disability in older adults; however, few studies have investigated differences in the association of frailty with mild and severe disabilities according to Japanese long-term care insurance certification. This study separately investigated the associations between frailty and the incidence of mild and severe disabilities. This 3-year retrospective cohort study included community-dwelling adults in Okayama City aged ≥65 years. We assessed frailty status using the Kihon Checklist and defined the outcomes as mild and severe disabilities according to long-term care insurance certifications. We applied multinomial logistic regression analysis to investigate the association between frailty and the incidence of mild and severe disabilities. The analysis included a total of 36,043 participants. For mild disability, the odds ratios (ORs) comparing frail to robust and prefrail to robust were 3.85 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.36-4.42) and 1.82 (95% CI, 1.58-2.10), respectively. Similarly, the corresponding ORs for severe disability were 4.35 (95% CI, 3.55-5.34) and 1.78 (95% CI, 1.43-2.21), respectively. In the age-stratified analysis of mild disability, the pre-old group (aged 65-74 years) with frail showed a higher association than the old-age group (aged ≥75 years) with frail. Regarding severe disability, the older group with frailty showed a higher association than the pre-old group with frailty. The results showed that both prefrail and frail were associated with the incidence of mild and severe disabilities, with different patterns of association between the pre-old and old age groups.

Impact of number of functional teeth on independence of Japanese older adults.

To examine the relationship between the number of present and functional teeth at baseline and future incidence of loss of independence. Participants were community-dwelling older individuals who participated in a comprehensive geriatric health examination conducted in Kusatsu town, Japan, between 2009 and 2015. The primary endpoint was the incidence of loss of independence among participants, defined as the first certification of long-term care insurance in Japan. The numbers of present and functional teeth at baseline were determined via an oral examination. Demographics, clinical variables (e.g., history of chronic diseases and psychosocial factors), blood nutritional markers, physical functions, and perceived masticatory function were assessed. This study included 1121 individuals, and 205 individuals suffered from loss of independence during the follow-up period. Kaplan-Meier estimates of loss of independence for participants with smaller numbers of present and functional teeth were significantly greater than for those with larger numbers of teeth. Cox proportional hazard analyses indicated that a smaller number of present teeth was not a significant risk factor after adjusting for demographic characteristics. However, the number of functional teeth was a significant risk factor after the adjustment (hazard ratio: 1.975 [1.168-3.340]). Additionally, higher hazard ratios were observed in other adjusted models, but they were not statistically significant. The number of functional teeth may be more closely related to the future incidence of loss of independence than the number of present teeth. This novel finding suggests that prosthodontic rehabilitation for tooth loss possibly prevents the future incidence of this life-event. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2022; 22: 1032-1039.

Lumbar spinal stenosis is a risk factor for the development of dementia: locomotive syndrome and health outcomes in the Aizu cohort study.

It remains unclear whether musculoskeletal diseases are risk factors for dementia development. This prospective cohort study of community-dwelling residents aimed to clarify the impact of lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) on dementia development. We included participants aged ≥ 65years from the Locomotive Syndrome and Health Outcomes in the Aizu cohort study. LSS was diagnosed using the validated LSS diagnostic support tool. Dementia development between 2008 and 2015 was investigated using official long-term care insurance certification data. We analysed the effects of LSS on dementia development after adjusting for potential confounders, like age, sex, diabetes, depressive symptoms, hip and knee joint osteoarthritis, daily activity, and smoking habit. We included 1220 patients in the final analysis. The incidence of dementia was significantly higher in the LSS group [48 of 444 (10.8%)] than in the control group [34 of 776 (4.4%)]. Multivariable analysis using multiple imputations revealed that the confidence interval for the adjusted odds ratio of LSS for dementia development was 1.87 (95% confidence interval; 1.14-3.07). We clarified that LSS is an independent risk factor for dementia development. Our findings suggest the importance of considering the risk of dementia in the decision-making process for the treatment of LSS.

Comparison of Characteristics of Definition Criteria for Respiratory Sarcopenia-The Otassya Study.

We compared the definitions of respiratory sarcopenia obtained from a model based on forced vital capacity (FVC) and whole-body sarcopenia, as recommended by the Japanese Association of Rehabilitation Nutrition (JARN), and a model based on the peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), as recommended in our previous study. A total of 554 community-dwelling older people without airway obstruction who participated in our study in 2017 were included in the current study. Respiratory function, sarcopenia, and frailty were assessed. Pearson’s correlation coefficients of the associations of the FVC and PEFR with physical performance and the receiver operating curves of FVC and PEFR’s association with sarcopenia, long-term care insurance (LTCI) certification, and frailty were calculated. The sensitivity and specificity of the two respiratory sarcopenia models were assessed. The FVC and PEFR were associated significantly with physical performance. The areas under the curve for sarcopenia and the LTCI certification in the FVC and PEFR groups were statistically significant in both sexes. While Kera’s model had a lower specificity in determining sarcopenia, it had a sensitivity higher than the JARN model. Both models provide suitable definitions of respiratory sarcopenia. Future studies are required to determine other appropriate variables to define respiratory sarcopenia.

Differences in risk of requiring care between screening using queries with and without definitions when determining frequency of going out

Objectives This study elucidates the differences in risk for a functional decline in general housebound screening using queries with and without definitions.Methods This study involved 10,802 community-dwelling older people who lived in four municipalities in Aichi Prefecture. The participants were asked about their frequency of going out in general and for five specific purposes: shopping, hospital visitation, strolling, leisure, and work. A person was defined as being "generally housebound" if he/she answered "less than once per week." However, a query with the definition of "going out" was used in only one of the four municipalities. Furthermore, we defined a person who goes out once a week, for any of the purposes, as "by-purpose non-housebound." If the response to the general and purpose-specific queries were inconsistent, we regarded it as an "inconsistent answer." Additionally, we compared the occurrence rate and hazard ratio for the onset of long-term care insurance certification of general housebound screening using queries with and without definition. We also calculated the occurrence rate and related risk factors for inconsistent answers.Results The occurrence rate of general housebound screening using query with and without definition was 2.8% and 11.7%, respectively. Additionally, the hazard ratio for the onset of long-term care insurance certification of general housebound screening using the query with definition was 1.56 times more than that of general housebound screening using query without definition. The rate of inconsistent answers in by-purpose non-housebound using query with and without definition was 2.2% and 10.2%, respectively. However, sex, age, living with spouse and child(ren), years of schooling, self-rated health, depression, habitation in islands, and indicating definition of "going out" were related to inconsistent answers. The prevalence ratio of inconsistent answers in respondents using query with definition was significantly lower than among respondents using query without definition (PR=0.29).Conclusion Query with definition reduced the occurrence rate of general housebound and increased the hazard ratio for the onset of long-term care insurance certification. Therefore, a definition should be added to queries asking for the frequency of going out to screen for housebound.

Implementation and costs of housing adaptations among older adults with different functional limitations in Japan

BackgroundAccessible housing is crucial to maintain a good quality of life for older adults with functional limitations, and housing adaptations are instrumental in resolving accessibility problems. It is unclear to what extent older adults, who have a high risk of further functional decline, use housing adaptation grants acquired through the long-term care (LTC) insurance systems. This study aimed to examine the utilization of housing adaptation grants in terms of implementation and costs, for older adults with different types of functional limitations related to accessibility problems.MethodsThe study sample included individuals from a suburban city in the Tokyo metropolitan area who were certified for care support levels (indicative of the need for preventive care) for the first time between 2010 and 2018 (N = 10,372). We followed the study participants over 12 months since the care needs certification. We matched and utilized three datasets containing the same individual’s data: 1) care needs certification for LTC insurance, 2) insurance premium levels, and 3) LTC insurance claims. We conducted a multivariable logistic regression analysis to estimate the likelihood of individuals with different functional limitations of having housing adaptations implemented. Afterward, we conducted a subgroup analysis of only older adults implementing housing adaptation grants to compare costs between groups with different functional limitations using the Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis tests.ResultsHousing adaptations were implemented among 15.6% (n = 1,622) of the study sample, and the median cost per individual was 1,287 USD. Individuals with lower extremity impairment or poor balance were more likely to implement housing adaptations (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.290 to AOR = 2.176), while those with visual impairment or lower cognitive function were less likely to implement housing adaptations (AOR = 0.553 to AOR = 0.861). Costs were significantly lower for individuals with visual impairment (1,180 USD) compared to others (1,300 USD).ConclusionOlder adults with visual or cognitive limitations may not receive appropriate housing adaptations, despite their high risk of accessibility problems. Housing adaptation grants should include various types of services that meet the needs of older people with different disabilities, and the results indicate there may be a need to improve the system.

Resting respiration rate predicts all-cause mortality in older outpatients.

Although respiratory rate has been a sensitive predictor for prognosis in acute settings, resting respiratory rate (RRR) is undervalued in chronic care. The clinical significance of RRR among older people is not well documented. We investigated the association between RRR and all-cause mortality among older outpatients. A retrospective cohort study exhaustively included patients who had undergone medical checkups in a facility between April 2017 and March 2018 and followed up for at least 2 years. We excluded patients who were less than 60years of age or had not undergone regular outpatient appointments. Sex, age, smoking habits, history of hospitalization, polypharmacy, long-term care insurance certification status, Mazzaglia index, pulse rate, systolic blood pressure, and Charlson Comorbidity Index were measured at the baseline medical checkup. Survival was confirmed by chart review and by contacting physicians in charge. The risk ratios were estimated by converting the odds ratios derived from the multivariable logistic regression models. Of the 853 patients who underwent baseline checkups, 749 were enrolled in the analyses; death occurred in 53 patients (7.1%), with no loss to follow-up. The RRR was independently associated with all-cause mortality after adjusting for covariates [adjusted risk ratio of RRR per 1bpm = 1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06 - 1.22]. Given the independent association of RRR for existing predictors, this simple index seems worthy of consideration in further studies aimed at defining its predictive role in older people and in different settings. RRR was independently associated with all-cause mortality.

Association of kyphotic posture with loss of independence and mortality in a community-based prospective cohort study: the Locomotive Syndrome and Health Outcomes in Aizu Cohort Study (LOHAS)

ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate the association between kyphotic posture and future loss of independence (LOI) and mortality in community-dwelling older adults.DesignProspective cohort study.SettingTwo Japanese municipalities.ParticipantsWe enrolled 2193 independent community-dwelling...

Factors associated with inability to attend a follow-up assessment, mortality, and institutionalization among community-dwelling older people with cognitive impairment during a 5-year period: evidence from community-based participatory research.

The aim of the present study was to explore factors associated with (i) the inability to attend a follow-up assessment in the community-based participatory research (CBPR) framework; (ii) mortality; and (iii) institutionalization, across a 5-year period among older people with cognitive impairment identified via an epidemiological survey. The participants were 198 older people whose score on the Mini-Mental State Examination was below 24, and who were living in our CBPR region in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Baseline data included sociodemographic factors, health-related factors, social factors, and assessments by healthcare professionals. Over the following 5 years we observed what happened to the subjects within the CBPR framework. Bivariate and stepwise multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the factors associated with the inability to attend a follow-up assessment, 5-year mortality, and institutionalization. Participants who did not attend a follow-up assessment tended to live alone. Being older (>80), living with others, frailty, and the need for rights protection and daily living support were associated with increased mortality. Long-term care insurance certification was strongly associated with institutionalization as a natural consequence of the health-care system. Having dementia and low access to doctors were also positively associated with institutionalization. Older people with cognitive impairment who are living alone are at higher risk of being overlooked by society. To move toward more inclusive communities, the following are recommended: (i) more interventions focusing on older people living alone; (ii) social interventions to detect daily life collapse or rights violations; and (iii) more support to help people with dementia continue living in the community.

Risk Factors of Long-Term Care Insurance Certification in Japan: A Scoping Review.

This study aimed to review evidence on future long-term care associated with pre-existing factors among community-dwelling Japanese older adults. We systematically searched cohort and nested case–control studies published between 2000 and 2019 that assessed long-term care certification using the PubMed, CINAHL, and EMBASE databases. The relationship between long-term care insurance information and risk factors was investigated. The protocol was registered with the Open Science Framework. We extracted 91 studies for synthesis, including 84 prospective cohort studies, 1 retrospective cohort study, and 6 nested case–control studies. Certification for long-term care was classified into two endpoints: onset of functional disability and dementia. There were 72 studies that used long-term care certification as a proxy for functional disability, and 22 used long-term care information to indicate the onset of dementia. Common risk factors related to functional disability were physical function, frailty, and oral condition. Motor function and nutritional status were common risk factors for dementia. We found consistent associations between premorbid risk factors and functional disability and dementia. The accumulation of evidence on the incidence of long-term care and associated factors can aid the development of preventive measures. Future studies should aim to integrate this evidence.