Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Oct 18;17(1):241.
doi: 10.1186/s12877-017-0630-1.

Lifestyle factors are significantly associated with the locomotive syndrome: a cross-sectional study

Manabu Akahane  1 , Shingo Yoshihara  2 , Akie Maeyashiki  2 , Yasuhito Tanaka  2 , Tomoaki Imamura  2
Affiliations

Lifestyle factors are significantly associated with the locomotive syndrome: a cross-sectional study

Manabu Akahane et al. BMC Geriatr. .

Abstract

Background: The Japanese Orthopedic Association first proposed the concept of "locomotive syndrome" in 2007. It refers to circumstances in which elderly people need nursing care services or are at high risk of requiring such services within a short time. Recently, the public health burden of providing nursing care for elderly individuals has increased. Therefore, locomotive syndrome, and the means of preventing it, are a major public health focus in Japan. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships of lifestyle factors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, sleep duration, and dental health, with locomotive syndrome.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using an internet panel survey. The participants comprised 747 individuals aged 30-90 years. Factors related to demographics (age, sex), general health (number of teeth, presence of periodontal disease), and lifestyle (smoking, alcohol consumption, sleep duration) were assessed. We also used the 25-question Geriatric Locomotive Function Scale to determine whether each participant had locomotive syndrome. Multivariate analysis was conducted using logistic regression to investigate the independent relationships between locomotive syndrome and lifestyle factors after adjusting for sex and age.

Results: A greater proportion of women (17.7%) than men (11.2%) had locomotive syndrome (p < 0.05). Participants aged ≥65 years showed significantly higher percentages (men: 21.4%, women: 75.7%) of locomotive syndrome compared with those aged <65 years (p < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that older age (≥ 65 years), sex, current smoking status, number of existing teeth, and presence of periodontal disease were associated with locomotive syndrome, whereas sleep duration was not. The frequency of alcohol consumption, except for daily drinking, was also associated with locomotive syndrome.

Conclusion: Our study indicates that lifestyle factors, such as smoking and number of existing teeth, may partly affect the prevalence of locomotive syndrome. Hence, lifestyle modifications, such as improving oral hygiene and promoting cessation of smoking, are important means to reduce the risk of locomotive syndrome and should be promoted by public health staff.

Keywords: Drinking; Lifestyle; Locomotive; Musculoskeletal disease; Periodontal disease; Risk reduction behavior; Smoking; Tooth.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was conducted with the approval of the Ethics Committee of Nara Medical University (authorization code: 335). All participants provided informed consent (completed online) for data collection and storage.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

References

    1. Nakamura K. The concept and treatment of locomotive syndrome: its acceptance and spread in Japan. J Orthop Sci. 2011;16(5):489–491. doi: 10.1007/s00776-011-0108-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Seichi A, Hoshino Y, Doi T, Akai M, Tobimatsu Y, Iwaya T. Development of a screening tool for risk of locomotive syndrome in the elderly: the 25-question geriatric locomotive function scale. J Orthop Sci. 2012;17(2):163–172. doi: 10.1007/s00776-011-0193-5. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hirano K, Imagama S, Hasegawa Y, Wakao N, Muramoto A, Ishiguro N. Impact of spinal imbalance and back muscle strength on locomotive syndrome in community-living elderly people. J Orthop Sci. 2012;17(5):532–537. doi: 10.1007/s00776-012-0266-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hirano K, Imagama S, Hasegawa Y, Wakao N, Muramoto A, Ishiguro N. Impact of back muscle strength and aging on locomotive syndrome in community living Japanese women. Nagoya J Med Sci. 2013;75(1–2):47–55. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bartecchi CE, MacKenzie TD, Schrier RW. The human costs of tobacco use (1) N Engl J Med. 1994;330(13):907–912. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199403313301307. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms