An Outpatient-based Survey on the Recognition of Locomotive Syndrome in Japan: The Results of three Years of Surveys.

Background: In 2007, the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) proposed the term locomotive syndrome (LS) and the Japan Locomo Challenge Promotion Conference (JLCPC) began to carry out continuous campaigns to increase the LS recognition. LS awareness and prevention activities have been considered to be critical health promotion activities in the orthopedic field. The JLCPC surveyed the LS recognition rate with an Internet-based questionnaire since 2012. However, there have not been any outpatient cohort studies. Thus, since 2014, we have surveyed the outpatients who were treated at Juntendo University Hospital, Tokyo. Methods: To investigate LS recognition, we conducted an annual questionnaire survey of the approximately 1000 orthopedic outpatients who were treated each year at Juntendo University Hospital (Tokyo, Japan) from March to June (a 3-month period) in the 3 years from 2013 to 2015. Results: We created three classifications of LS recognition: “Known”, “Heard of” and “Unknown.” The results of the survey revealed that the LS recognition rate was 24.6% in 2013, 26.4% in 2014 and 27.9% in 2015. The outpatient survey results indicated that there has been a stable increase in the LS recognition rate over the past 3 years. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the LS recognition rate in 2015 was 27.9%, which amounts to a 3.3% increase in comparison to the in 2013 survey. We therefore consider that our outpatient-based survey has been a health promotion activity that has helped to promote a better understanding of the effects of the promotion of LS awareness and trends in awareness promotion activities.

An Outpatient-based Survey about the Recognition of Locomotive Syndrome and the Results of the Loco-check at a University Hospital in Tokyo.

Background: To prevent locomotor dysfunction, the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) proposed the concept of locomotive syndrome (LS) in 2007, and has carried out many campaigns to increase the awareness of LS. Recently, the JOA reported that 26.6% of people recognized LS in internet based surveys. However, a survey of the recognition of LS using outpatient (hospital-based) cohorts has never been performed. Therefore, we surveyed the recognition of LS, the prevalence of LS and any correlations between LS andthe clinical data in the outpatient cohort. Methods: To investigate the recognition of LS and prevalence of LS, we conducted a questionnaire survey including the “loco-check” in 1010 (429 male and 581 female) orthopaedic outpatients at Juntendo University Hospital (Tokyo, Japan) from April to June 2013. Results: Only 24.6% of the patients knew about the concept of LS. In terms of the media sources from which the patients had received information about LS, 49.5% received LS information from TV. With regard to the prevalence of LS, 43.8% was classified into the LS group. The prevalence of LS was 32.9% in males and 51.8% in females. When the relationship between LS and orthopaedic disease was examined, 50 of 55 (90.9%) knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients, 21 of 26 (80.8%) hip OA patients and 98 of 151 (64.9%) lumbar spondylosis patients had statistically significant correlations with LS (p<0.0001). Conclusion: This study confirmed the rate of recognition of LS indicated by the JOA survey. Our studies also revealed that LS score was related to orthopaedic disorders. Our outpatient-based surveys may help provide a better understanding of the effects and trends of the campaigns to promote the recognition of LS.