The Relationship between Restrictions on Going Out and Motor Imagery among Medical University Students in Japan-Research with Small Samples.

Motor imagery is often used as a training method to improve physical performance. Previous studies have often reported that reduced motor imagery is more likely to occur in older adults and stroke patients. However, it has also been reported that it is difficult to imagine exercises that cannot be performed. Therefore, we hypothesized that this may also have occurred in young people who were physically able to exercise but who were restricted by COVID-19 lockdowns, however, we could find no studies that investigated the impact of restricting outings. In this study, 83 healthy young people were measured for physical performance (maximum walking speed, grasp strength, Timed Up and Go test, imagined Timed Up and Go test, functional reach test, and five chair stand test). It was found that, while restricting outings did not influence physical performance in the subjects, it did influence motor imagery. Therefore, it should be borne in mind that training with motor imagery may not generate adequate actual motor imagery when restrictions are imposed on activities.

Association between Prevention from Going Out and Incidence of Falls among Community-Dwelling Older Adults during COVID-19 Pandemic.

To prevent falls, community-dwelling older adults must maintain regular physical activities. This study aimed to explore the association between the prevention from going out and the incidence of falls among community-dwelling older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a prospective cohort study that consisted of 381 individuals aged 65 years or older, living in a local community in Japan, and ranging from being independent to being physically and cognitively frail. The finding revealed that among those who had been going out five or more times weekly pre-pandemic, the prevention from going out at the time of the first state of emergency (SOE) (AOR = 6.84; 95%CI = 1.51-31.02), having history of falls (AOR = 7.35; 95%CI = 1.81-29.84), participating in group gatherings (AOR = 6.09; 95%CI = 1.48-25.12), living with spouses (AOR = 0.08; 95%CI = 0.02-0.40), and living with other than spouse (AOR = 0.15; 95%CI = 0.03-0.73) were associated with the incidence of falls. The study highlights the importance of providing regular opportunities to go out to community-dwelling older adults in order to prevent falls.

Suit the Remedy to the Case-The Effectiveness of COVID-19 Nonpharmaceutical Prevention and Control Policies Based on Individual Going-Out Behavior.

Nonpharmaceutical policies for epidemic prevention and control have been extensively used since the outbreak of COVID-19. Policies ultimately work by limiting individual behavior. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of policies by combining macro nonpharmaceutical policies with micro-individual going-out behavior. For different going out scenarios triggered by individual physiological safety needs, friendship needs, and family needs, this paper categorizes policies with significant differences in intensity, parameterizes the key contents of the policies, and simulates and analyzes the effectiveness of the policies in different going-out scenarios with simulation methods. The empirical results show that enhancing policy intensity can effectively improve policy effectiveness. Among different types of policies, restricting the times of going out is more effective. Further, the effect of controlling going out based on physiological safety needs is better than other needs. We also evaluate the policy effectiveness of 26 global countries or regions. The results show that the policy effectiveness varies among 26 countries or regions. The quantifiable reference provided by this study facilitates decision makers to establish policy and practices for epidemic prevention and control.

Poor Health Behaviors among Housebound Japanese Community-Dwelling Older Adults Due to Prolonged Self-Restraint during the First COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey.

BACKGROUND: Prolonged self-restraining behaviors induced by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic's containment measures can limit various positive health behaviors. OBJECTIVE: We examined the decline in going-out and certain other positive health behaviors and investigated the relationship between excessive decreases in going-out frequency and declining engagement in positive health behaviors among community-dwelling older adults during the self-restraint period. DESIGN: This study employed a cross-sectional survey design. SETTING: This study was conducted in Nishi Tokyo City, Tokyo, Japan. PARTICIPANTS: The participants were 294 respondents (150 women) aged 50 years and older who lived in public housing that were permitted to be surveyed during the self-restraint period. MEASUREMENTS: Their pre-pandemic going-out frequency around February 2020 and going-out frequency during the self-restraint period starting in April 2020 were reported. We mainly assessed the existence of home health behaviors (i.e., exercise, in-person and phone conversations, and healthy diet). A self-report questionnaire was used to obtain data. RESULTS: Going-out frequency decreased in 41.2% of the 294 respondents owing to the government's request for self-restraint. In total, 13 individuals had been going out less than one time per week (housebound) before the request. Of the 281 people who were not housebound before the government's self-restraint request, 13.9% were newly housebound. Newly housebound individuals were 5.3 times less likely to exercise, had 2.1 times fewer social contacts, and 2.6 times less balanced or healthy diets than those who maintained their frequency of going out. CONCLUSIONS: Prolonged self-restraint due to the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to housebound status and poor health behaviors. Public health intervention is needed to prevent excessive self-restraint, along with new measures integrating information and communication technologies to enable older adults to live active lives.

Changes in Going Out after Lifting a Stay-At-Home Order and Decreases of Higher-Level Functional Capacities

Aims: To clarify associations between changes in going out after lifting a stay-at-home order and decrease in higher-level functional capacities among older adults with impairments. Methods: This study was conducted using questionnaires completed by people registered in two day-service facilities and a nursing station. A baseline survey was conducted during Japan’s declaration of emergency for the coronavirus disease 2019, and follow-up surveys were conducted in 4, 8, and 12 months after the declaration was lifted. We performed binary logistic regression analyses to clarify the above associations Results: There were significant associations between Δ sum of purposes of going out and the decrease in higher-level functional capacities in 4 months (OR 0.57) and in 8 months (OR 0.47). Conclusions: Increasing the sum of purposes of going out after lifting a stay-at-home order was associated with lower odds for a decrease in higher-level functional capacities in 4 and 8 months. © 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Association between Frequency of Going Out and Psychological Condition among Community-Dwelling Older Adults after the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan.

BACKGROUND: The psychological condition and frequency of going out (FGO) of community-dwelling older adults after the spread of COVID-19 will provide insights for supporting the daily lives of community-dwelling older adults. Going out is defined as moving from one's own home to a place or region beyond one's own home and is considered to reflect the daily and social life of community-dwelling older adults. This study investigates the relationship between the FGO and current psychological condition after the second wave of COVID-19 in community-dwelling older adults in Japan. METHODS: This study adopted a self-administered questionnaire by mail. A total of 493 members of CO-OP Kagoshima were included in the analysis and divided into two groups according to the change in FGO. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted after a bivariate analysis to investigate the relationship between the FGO and psychological condition. RESULTS: Significant differences were noted between the groups with decreased FGO and those with increased/unchanged FGO in general and pandemic-related psychological condition. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed a significant relationship between FGO and psychological condition, such as mental fatigue, not smiling as much as before, and anxiousness to go outside. CONCLUSION: Community-dwelling older adults may have experienced a decrease in the frequency of going out and a detrimental effect on their psychological condition after the COVID-19 pandemic. This finding may inform strategies to identify priorities for psychological approaches altered by COVID-19 to prevent confinement and stress in older adults.

Reductions in the Frequency of Going Out Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic Negatively Affect Patients with Spinal Disorders.

INTRODUCTION: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has greatly changed the lifestyles of individuals due to the need to prevent disease spread. Globally, governments have enforced various policies, including travel bans, quarantine, home confinement, and lockdowns, as safety measures. Consequently, the frequency of individuals going out has decreased. This survey aimed to assess how decreasing the frequency of going out due to the COVID-19 pandemic impacts patients with spinal disorders. METHODS: This multicenter cross-sectional questionnaire survey included patients who visited four private spine clinics for any symptoms. Participants completed questionnaires pre- and post-pandemic that assessed the following topics: frequency of leaving home, exercise habits, locomotive syndrome, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Patients were divided into decreased and non-decreased frequency of going out groups, according to observed changes in their frequencies of leaving home. Both groups were statistically compared using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses to identify factors associated with the frequency of going out. RESULTS: Among 855 patients, 160 (18.7%; the decreased group) reported that they went out less frequently, and 695 (81.3%; the non-decreased group) reported that they left home equally frequently post- versus pre-pandemic. Multivariate analyses showed that exercise habits significantly decreased (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 2.67, p = 0.004), the incidence of locomotive syndrome significantly increased (aOR = 2.86, p = 0.012), and HRQOL significantly deteriorated (aOR = 4.14, p < 0.001) in the decreased group compared to the non-decreased group. CONCLUSIONS: Restrictions regarding leaving home due to the COVID-19 pandemic significantly decreased exercise frequency, increased the occurrence of locomotive syndrome, and were associated with deterioration of HRQOL in patients with spine disorders. It may be beneficial for spine surgeons to encourage patients with spinal disorders to leave home at a frequency similar to what they did pre-pandemic while avoiding crowded areas, despite the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Who is staying home and who is not? Demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic differences in time spent outside the home during the COVID-19 outbreak in Japan.

Studies have reported that many people changed their going-out behavior in response to the declaration of a state of emergency related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Japan. However, individual attributes of those who tended to stay home have not been examined. Therefore, this study examined the demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic characteristics of people who refrained from going out both before and after a state of emergency was declared. Using data from a nationwide online survey, this study retrospectively investigated the relative amount of time spent outside the home between mid-February and mid-May 2020. Multilevel linear regression analysis was performed to examine the association of time outside with demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic characteristics, and with the anxiety related to going out, in each period. Overall, respondents significantly reduced their time spent outside during the study period, especially after a state of emergency was declared. Those who were young, female, living with two or more people, had lower income, were not working, used public transportation, had chronic disease, and lived in large metropolitan areas were more likely to reduce time outside during a part of the study period. However, no significant differences were observed for occupational class, education, and neighborhood population density. Thus, the results showed a reduction in time outside during the COVID-19 outbreak and the existence of demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic differences in going-out behavior. Socioeconomic disparities and neighborhood differences in going-out behavior, and their influence on health should be continuously monitored.