Urban-rural differences in physical performance and health status among older Japanese community-dwelling women (original) (raw)

2012, Journal of Clinical Gerontology and Geriatrics

Background/Purpose: Assessment of physical performance allows the identification of health and functional independence among older adults. Several factors, such as environmental conditions, influence the results; therefore our objective was to compare the physical performance and the health status between older Japanese women living in urban and rural communities. Methods: Subjects were Japanese women aged ≥65 years, recruited in urban (n=41, age=73.8 ± 3.92) and rural (n=54, age=73.8 ± 4.15) locations through a local press. Physical performance was assessed by the Timed Up and Go (TUG), one leg stand (OLS), repeated chair stands (CS) and handgrip strength (HGS) tests. Health status was investigated using socio-demographic characteristics; anthropometric measures and body composition; physical activity, a pedometer, Life-Space Assessment (LSA); Geriatric Depression Scale; incidence of falls, fear of falling; and medical information. Variables were compared by  2 test, Independent-Samples T-test and Mann Whitney U-test. Results: Rural subjects presented better performance in HGS (p=0.01) than urban subjects, who had better performance in CS (p<0.001). No statistical differences were found in TUG or OLS. Rural subjects also had higher body mass index (p=0.04), waist circumference (p<0.01), body fat percentage (p=0.014) than urban subjects, who showed higher scores in LSA (p<0.001). Concerning medical information, more rural subjects complained of low back pain (p=0.01) and gastrointestinal problems (p=0.02). Conclusion: Our findings showed that the physical performance and health status varied according to the place. Rural subjects had worse results in CS, but better 3 performance in HGS than urban subjects. We emphasize that health interventions should address the specific demand of each location.