Age-related changes in cheek skin movement: A case study of Japanese women.

BACKGROUND: The majority of conventional studies on skin aging have focused on static conditions. However, in daily life, the facial skin we encounter is constantly in motion due to conversational expressions and changes in facial expressions, causing the skin to alter its position and shape, resulting in a dynamic state. Consequently, it is hypothesized that characteristics of aging not apparent in static conditions may be present in the dynamic state of the skin. Therefore, this study investigates age-related changes in dynamic skin characteristics associated with facial expression alterations. METHODS: A motion capture system measured the dynamic characteristics (delay and stretchiness of skin movement associated with expression) of the cheek skin in response to facial expressions among 86 Japanese women aged between 20 and 69 years. RESULTS: The findings revealed an increase in the delay of cheek skin response to facial expressions (r = 0.24, p < 0.05) and a decrease in the stretchiness of the lower cheek area with age (r = 0.60, p < 0.01). An increasing variance in delay and stretchiness within the same age group was also observed with aging. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study revealed that skin aging encompasses both static characteristics, such as spots, wrinkles, and sagging, traditionally studied in aging research, and dynamic aging characteristics of the skin that emerge in response to facial expression changes. These dynamic aging characteristics could pave the way for the development of new methodologies in skin aging analysis and potentially improve our understanding and treatment of aging impressions that are visually perceptible in daily life but remain unexplored.

Potential prescribing omissions of anti-osteoporosis drugs is associated with rehabilitation outcomes after fragility fracture: Retrospective cohort study.

AIM: We investigated the association between rehabilitation outcomes and polypharmacy, potentially inappropriate medications and potential prescribing omissions in older adults with fragility fractures. METHODS: In total, we registered 217 older adults with fragility fractures (hip or vertebral) retrospectively and examined the association between rehabilitation outcome and polypharmacy, potentially inappropriate medications and potential prescribing omissions. Polypharmacy was defined as five or more drugs. Potentially inappropriate medications and potential prescribing omissions were defined by the Beers criteria (2015) and the screening tool to alert to treatment criteria version 2, respectively. The outcome was functional independence measure gain (functional independence measure at discharge - functional independence measure at admission). RESULTS: Multiple regression analyses revealed no association between functional independence measure gain and polypharmacy (crude: ß = 0.058, P = 0.858; adjusted model: ß = 0.013, P = 0.869) or potentially inappropriate medications (crude: ß = 0.100, P = 0.144; adjusted model: ß = 0.084, P = 0.260). However, there was a significant association between functional independence measure gain and potential prescribing omissions (crude: ß = 0.167, P = 0.014; adjusted model: ß = 0.180, P = 0.016). Participants without potential prescribing omissions (in other words, participants who were prescribed anti-osteoporosis drugs) had a greater functional independence measure gain than participants with potential prescribing omissions (in other words, those that were not prescribed anti-osteoporosis drugs). CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to report that participants without potential prescribing omissions had significantly improved rehabilitation outcomes. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2021; 21: 386-391.

Examination of age-related changes of viscoelasticity in the dermis and subcutaneous fat layer using ultrasound elastography.

BACKGROUND: Using ultrasound elastography, the present study aimed to measure the viscoelasticity in each skin layer and to determine the relationship between the measured value, age, and body mass index (BMI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study included 77 Japanese women. We calculated the BMI and measured the facial cheek via elastography. With the use of the elastographic image, the dermis was divided into two layers, and the subcutaneous fat layer was divided into five equal sections according to the depth, ultimately obtaining seven layers. Furthermore, the thickness and viscoelasticity of each divided layer were measured. RESULTS: The analysis of echo images revealed that the thickness of the upper dermis layer decreased with age, whereas that of the subcutaneous fat layer tended to increase with age and BMI. As measured by elastography, the viscoelasticity of both the lower dermis and the upper subcutaneous fat layer decreased with age. As the BMI increased, the viscoelasticity of the lower subcutaneous layer also increased, but that of the upper subcutaneous layer decreased. CONCLUSIONS: The present study revealed the relationship between aging and viscoelasticity in the lower dermis and the relationship between aging, BMI, and viscoelasticity in the upper subcutaneous fat layer.