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Objectives We aimed to examine the psychosocial characteristics of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by remission status and determine the impacts of social support on severity of depressive symptoms. Methods We enrolled RA patients aged 40–79 years who visited university hospitals’ outpatient clinics. Severity of depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory-II), physical disability (Health Assessment Questionnaire), and support were evaluated. Furthermore, RA disease activity was evaluated by 28-point Disease Activity Score (DAS28) calculation. The independent impacts of instrumental and emotional social support on depressive symptoms by remission status defined as DAS28 score Results This study included 360 RA patients. In the remission group, emotional support showed a statistically significant negative impact on depressive symptoms, whereas instrumental support had an extremely limited contribution to severity of depressive symptoms. In the non-remission group, instrumental support showed a negative tendency of impact on severity of depressive symptoms, whereas emotional support had a wide range of influence. Conclusions Favourable association between emotional support and depressive symptoms is confirmed only among RA patients in remission status. The influence of emotional support in non-remission patients and that of instrumental support regardless of remission status are inconclusive.

The original Kihon Checklist, validated to predict the incidence of functional disability, has been modified to capture both functional ability (can/cannot) and performing state (do/do not). However, the predictive validity of the modified Kihon Checklist remains unverified. Therefore, this study intends to verify the predictive validity of the modified Kihon Checklist and to clarify whether predictive discrimination differs between the classification method of functional ability and performing state.The participants comprised 67 398 older people who responded to the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (2016). They were followed for 3.1 years on average. Cox's proportional hazards model with incidence of functional disability as the endpoint was used to calculate the hazard ratio, adjusted for sex and age. The independent variables were judged by two classification methods, functional ability and performing state, using nine indicators based on the modified Kihon Checklist. Additionally, we examined whether the two classification methods produced different C-index estimates.Incidence of functional disability occurred in 6232 participants (9.2%). The adjusted hazard ratio of those to whom the nine indicators applied was significantly higher than that of those to whom they did not. The range of the hazard ratio was 1.50-3.82 for both classification methods. The C-index was slightly higher when the classification was based on performing state than when it was based on on functional ability.Although predictive discrimination was slightly higher for the performing state than for functional ability, the predictive validity of the modified Kihon Checklist was confirmed for both. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2022; 22: 667-674.

This study presents a single-arm intervention that aimed to determine the feasibility of a three-month home-based exercise program to prevent the progression of frailty during COVID-19. We recruited four groups of Kayoi-no-ba, or community salons for frailty prevention, and a total of 69 community-dwelling older women who belonged to one of the Kayoi-no-ba in a preliminary study for a follow-up study. The intervention program was developed on the basis of the 5A approach, and the focus group by the volunteer leaders of Kayoi-no-ba. We adapted the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology Home Exercise Program for Older People for 10-min daily home-based exercise. For feasibility outcomes, 91.3% of the participants completed the intervention program, whereas the percentage of exercise performed was 86.5% during the intervention period. For health-related outcomes, the five times sit-to-stand test exhibited significant improvement after the intervention. The results of feasibility outcomes indicate that the program may be feasible due to the high rates of completion and exercise performed. Additionally, improvement was noted for the health indicators of the five times sit-to-stand test, which may help prevent frailty. The feasibility trial has provided the necessary data to design a future-cluster randomized controlled trial.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common disease among older adults, leading to mortality. Although COPD is also associated with socioeconomic factors, little is known about the impact of COPD on mortality accounting for them. We examined the association between COPD and mortality among older male adults, adjusting for socioeconomic factors.This study recruited functionally independent male older adults from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study. Participants answered self-reported questionnaires mailed in 2013, followed up to 2016. Participants with COPD were screened as those with higher scores than the upper quantile of the modified International Primary Care Airway Group questionnaire. Regarding individual socioeconomic factors, educational attainment, household equivalized income, living arrangements, and social participation was assessed. The Cox proportional hazards model was applied to examine the association between screened COPD and mortality.Data of 6,662 male older adults were analyzed (mean age [standard deviation]: 73.0 [5.8] years). During the observation periods, 394 deaths (5.9%) occurred. Screened COPD was associated with an increased mortality risk, even after adjusting for socioeconomic factors (hazard ratio, 1.56; 95% confidence interval, 1.25-1.94). In the stratified analysis among current smokers, the mortality risk of screened COPD was high in those with lower education, higher income, living alone, and less social participation.Those with screened COPD had an increased mortality risk, even after adjusting for socioeconomic factors. The risk was higher among those with lower education and less social relationships. Detection and treatment of COPD should be performed considering individual socioeconomic backgrounds.

To determine whether frailty associated factors differ between community dwellers and older adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).We used the cross-sectional data for patients with RA from the RA epidemiological quality-of-life study (n = 210, mean age 71.8 ± 3.7 years) and community dwellers from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (n = 53,255, mean age 71.7 ± 4.0 years). Frailty status was assessed using the Kihon Checklist (KCL), and the primary outcome was frailty (KCL score ≥8 points). Information on predictor variables, including age, sex, marital status, educational level, body mass index (BMI), drinking and smoking status and social participation were obtained from a standardized questionnaire. We employed Poisson regression to calculate the prevalence ratio (PR) of frailty according to its predictors.We found frailty in 37.6% of the patients with RA and 15.7% of the community dwellers. In the multivariate models, BMI and social participation were independently associated with frailty in patients with RA (BMI18.5: PR, 1.62; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09-2.41. BMI ≥25.0: PR, 1.81; 95% CI 1.20-2.71. Active social participation: PR, 0.61; 95% CI 0.42-0.87) and community dwellers (BMI18.5: PR, 1.77; 95% CI 1.67-1.88. BMI ≥25.0: PR, 1.27; 95% CI 1.22-1.33. Active social participation: PR, 0.46; 95% CI 0.44-0.48). All other predictors were significantly associated with frailty in the community dwellers.Maintaining appropriate body weight and participating in social activities are important for preventing frailty in patients with RA as well as community dwellers.