The association of dynapenia with whether participants were subject to long-term care prevention or not in the Japanese long-term care insurance system: A pilot study

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of dynapenia, determined by lower limb muscle strength, and sarcopenia with whether participants were subject to long-term care prevention (LCP) in the Japanese long-term care insurance system. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. The participants were 108 older adults (78.1±7.1 years, male=20), including 45 older adults who were subject to LCP (82.8±5.4 years, male=6) and 63 healthy older adults (74.7±6.2 years, male=14). Age, sex and comorbidities were collected as basic information. Height, weight, and muscle mass were measured as body composition, and grip strength, lower limb muscle strength, and gait speed were measured as physical functions. Sarcopenia was determined according to the definition of Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia in 2019. Dynapenia was determined using lower limb muscle strength. For the statistical analysis, the analysis was divided into two groups according to whether participants were subject to LCP or not. Next, we divided the participants into two groups, sarcopenia and dynapenia, and compared their physical characteristics and classification of LCP. Lastly, we used logistic regression analysis with dynapenia and sarcopenia as independent variables; age and gender as adjustment factors, and whether to undergo LCP as the dependent variable. Results: Dynapenia and sarcopenia were present in 17% and 26% of the participants. As a result of examining the association of dynapenia and sarcopenia with whether participants were subject to LCP or not, only dynapenia was found to be a significantly related factor (odds ratio: 4.6, P value: 0.025). Conclusion: Dynapenia was more closely related to whether participants were subject to LCP or not than sarcopenia. Submitted Sep. 17. 2021 Accepted Jan. 12. 2022 *Correspondence Masaki Iwamura, PT, PhD Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Science, Aino University E-mail: m-iwamura@pt-u.aino.ac.jp