Translating from 23METs-h/wk as physical activity reference value for Japanese to daily step counts / 体力科学

A physical activity reference value for health promotion, 23 METs-h/week was established by the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Labour in Japan in 2006. The purpose of this study was to determine the daily step counts (steps/day) that classify adults as meeting the 23 METs-h/week reference value by using objective measurements. Objectively measured physical activity levels of 1837 Japanese adults aged from 23 - 69 yrs from both urban and rural Japanese cohorts were provided. Amount of physical activity and daily step counts were assessed using a triaxial accelerometer (Actimarker EW4800; Panasonic Electric Works). Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis determined the optimal daily step counts (steps/day) that discriminated adults who met the reference value from those who did not. Approximately 48 % of Japanese adults met the 23 METs-h/week of physical activity reference value. ROC curve analysis found that 9341 steps/day produced 77.1 % of sensitivity and 79.5 % of specificity in all subject. When the analysis was performed in each cohort, 9980 steps/day and 8640 steps/day were indicated as the optimal daily step counts for them to meet 23 METs-h/week in urban and rural cohort, respectively. These data suggest that Japanese adults are likely to meet 23 METs-h/week of physical activity reference value if they accumulate between 8500 and 10,000 steps/day of daily step counts.

A Cross-sectional Population-based Study on Senile Dementia in a Rural City

All residents aged 65 or over in a rural city (n=5340) were studied with a self−administered questionnaire on psychiatric symptoms, physical health status, medical history, and environmental factors. After the screening, the clinical diagnosis of senile dementia was made by psychiatrists. The overall prevalence was 4.0% among responders staying at home (201/4969). The prevalence increased with age for both males and females and tended to be higher for females than males. The multilogistic analysis of the above variables showed that in the cerebrovascular type, stroke and inactive physical status might be risk factors for both gender groups. For the Alzheimer’s type, age and inactive physical status might be risk factors. For overall dementia, age, stroke, and inactive physical status might be risk factors.