A NATIONWIDE SURVEY OF MIDDLE-AGED MOUNTAINEERS OF JAPAN / 体力科学

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to help preventing mountaineering accidents. We conducted a questionnaire survey of middle-aged and senior mountaineers (over forty) on a nationwide scale and obtained 3781 significant responses. Both male and female respondents were in their mid-fifties on average. In terms of frequency of mountaineering, the twice-a-month group was the largest one. Approximately 70 percent did physical exercise regularly. Most of the respondents answered that they did not get so tired while mountaineering. However, troubles and/or disabilities while mountaineering occurred in 70% of them. Among them, “ache in the knee”and “wobbly legs”were the most frequent. They seems to be the causes for tumble accidents during descent which is the most common accident in middle-aged mountaineers. According to the results of cross tabulation and chi square testing, 4 items including regular physical training, regular mountaineering, optimum range of BMI (between 21 and 23) and abundant mountaineering experience were the key factors for preventing fatigue and troubles while mountaineering. On the contrary, age and sex were less important factors. However, in the case of some respondents who exercised regularly, they felt fatigue or had troubles while mountaineering. Additionally, some respondents who were confident in their physical fitness did not seem to have enough physical fitness to prevent fatigue and troubles. As stated above, inconsistent relationships were often observed among daily physical training, fatigue and troubles while mountaineering, and confidence in physical fitness, which will be one of the cause of mountaineering accidents.