The relationship between joint pain and climate conditions in Japan.

This study aimed to determine whether there was any association between the regional climate and the proportion of people with joint pain. Regional climate data between 1971 and 2000 were obtained from the Japan Meteorological Agency. The variables used in the cluster analysis included sunlight hours, amount of precipitation, number of days with precipitation, and temperature. The regional proportion of people with joint pain was obtained from the National Survey for Health in 2001. After performing a cluster analysis, one-way ANOVA and Welch's test were used to determine whether the climate characteristics of the clusters were significantly different. Within each cluster, stepwise multiple linear regression analyses were performed. We found that sunlight hours showed a direct, negative association with the proportion of people with joint pain (adjusted R2=0.532, p=0.016) in cluster 1, which was characterized as the region with the fewest total hours of sunlight, less precipitation, a modest number of rainy days, and low temperature. In the other clusters, the regional female population rate (cluster 2) and the senior population rate (cluster 3, 4) were the primary predictors. We concluded that the degree of exposure to sunlight may play a crucial role in prevention of joint pain. This finding should encourage people to set aside some time for staying outdoors in their daily lives.

Practicality of Veterans Specific Activity Questionnaire in evaluation of exercise capacity of community-dwelling Japanese elderly.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to determine whether a questionnaire-based method using the Veterans Specific Activity Questionnaire (VSAQ) is a practical tool for the development of a safe exercise program to prevent a reduction in physical performance. METHODS: One hundred and twenty-one senior residents of Yakage, Okayama, agreed to voluntarily participate in this study. They were asked to complete a questionnaire for information on age, sex, subjective health status, exercise habits and VSAQ. We investigated the relationship between age and exercise capacity predicted by VSAQ (predicted metabolic equivalents (METs)). In addition, for 36 out of the 121 participants, we performed a 6-min walk distance test (6MD) and investigated whether its results correlate with the predicted METs. Furthermore, we prepared a modified VSAQ and examined its practicality in the evaluation of the exercise capacity of Japanese elderly (n=50). RESULTS: We found that the predicted METs correlate well with age. Habitual exercise and subjective health status did not affect the predicted METs. A significant correlation was observed between the predicted METs and the results of 6MD (r=0.56, p<0.001). We also found that certain activities included in the original VSAQ are unfamiliar to Japanese elderly; thus, we made a few modifications to the original VSAQ in order to evaluate the physical fitness of Japanese elderly. The number of inadequate answers was reduced by employing the modified VSAQ. CONCLUSION: These findings imply that the modified VSAQ is useful in evaluating the exercise capacity of Japanese elderly adequately and is a practical scale for safe exercise.