Priscila Yukari Sewo Sampaio

Arterial stiffness is associated with low skeletal muscle mass in Japanese community-dwelling older adults.

To examine whether arterial stiffness, measured by the cardio‐ankle vascular index (CAVI), is associated with skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) in Japanese community‐dwelling older adults.

Validation and translation of the Kihon Checklist (frailty index) into Brazilian Portuguese

To translate the Japanese Kihon Checklist (frailty index) into the Portuguese language, and to validate the use of the checklist for the assessment of the elderly Brazilian population.

Systematic review of the Kihon Checklist: Is it a reliable assessment of frailty?

To investigate whether the Kihon Checklist (KCL) can predict frailty and disability.

Activities with Higher Influence on Quality of Life in Older Adults in Japan

The present study aimed to investigate the influence of 10 activities on quality of life (QOL) in Japanese older adults and to verify which activities had higher influence on QOL level. The subjects were 465 Japanese community-dwelling older adults. QOL was assessed by the brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) and the complementary assessment to measure the QOL of older adults (WHOQOL-OLD) module. Activity and participation were measured through a questionnaire concerning frequency of engagement in several activities. The activity with the highest influence on WHOQOL-BREF was physical activity (β = 0.209, p < 0.01), followed by art activity (β = 0.169, p < 0.01) and reading and writing (β = 0.141, p < 0.01). The activity with the highest influence on WHOQOL-OLD was social activity (β = 0.222, p < 0.01), followed by reading and writing activity (β = 0.118, p < 0.05). The limitations of this study were the proportion of subjects and the place of recruitment. Further studies investigating in deep the relation between QOL and activity and participation, and other subjective and environmental factors that may influence the QOL are still needed among a higher and homogeneous subjects sample.

Differences in lifestyle, physical performance and quality of life between frail and robust Brazilian community-dwelling elderly women.

To investigate the lifestyles, physical performance and quality of life (QOL) of frail and robust Brazilian community‐dwelling older women, and to identify risk factors for frailty.

Self-reported quality of sleep is associated with bodily pain, vitality and cognitive impairment in Japanese older adults

Poor sleep can affect physical and mental health, and consequently peoples quality of life (QOL); however, only a few studies have addressed the potential associations of physical and mental health with quality of sleep (QOS) in Japan. The present study aimed to investigate the association of QOS with sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics, cognitive status, nutrition, depression, seclusion, and QOL in Japanese community‐dwelling older adults.

Cutoffs and cardiovascular risk factors associated with neck circumference among community-dwelling elderly adults: a cross-sectional study

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: In elderly people, measurement of several anthropometric parameters may present complications. Although neck circumference measurements seem to avoid these issues, the cutoffs and cardiovascular risk factors associated with this parameter among elderly people remain unknown. This study was developed to identify the cutoff values and cardiovascular risk factors associated with neck circumference measurements among elderly people. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study conducted in two community centers for elderly people. METHODS: 435 elderly adults (371 women and 64 men) were recruited. These volunteers underwent morphological evaluations (body mass index and waist, hip, and neck circumferences) and hemodynamic evaluations (blood pressure values and heart rate). Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses were used to determine the predictive validity of cutoff values for neck circumference, for identifying overweight/obesity. Multivariate analysis was used to identify cardiovascular risk factors associated with large neck circumference. RESULTS: Cutoff values for neck circumference (men = 40.5 cm and women = 35.7 cm), for detection of obese older adults according to body mass index, were identified. After a second analysis, large neck circumference was shown to be associated with elevated body mass index in men; and elevated body mass index, blood pressure values, prevalence of type 2 diabetes and hypertension in women. CONCLUSION: The data indicate that neck circumference can be used as a screening tool to identify overweight/obesity in older people. Moreover, large neck circumference values may be associated with cardiovascular risk factors.

Comparison of frailty among Japanese, Brazilian Japanese descendants and Brazilian community-dwelling older women

To investigate frailty in Japanese, Brazilian Japanese descendants and Brazilian older women.

Importance of Physical Performance and Quality of Life for Self-Rated Health in Older Japanese Women

ABSTRACT Our study aimed to investigate the physical performance and quality of life (QOL) as associated factors with self-rated health (SRH). Japanese community-dwelling women aged 65 years or more (n = 51; mean age = 75.3 ± 6.0) answered a questionnaire regarding socio-demographic information, SRH, QOL by the Short Form-8, and performed the physical tests, such as Timed Up and Go, Functional Reach (FR), One Leg Stand (OLS), Five Chair Stands (CS), and hand grip strength (HGS). Smoking (p = 0.04), more medical consultations (p = 0.03), and more number of medications (p = 0.001) were significantly associated with poor self-assessment of their health. Moreover, those who assessed their health condition as not so good to bad condition had lower performance in FR (p = 0.02), HGS (p = 0.04), OLS (p = 0.05), and CS (p = 0.02), and poorer QOL condition in general health (p < 0.01), bodily pain (p = 0.02), and vitality (p = 0.03) in comparison with the other SRH groups (good and/or normal). Therefore, we encouraged the use of the SRH assessment and the interpretation of its results based on the present findings such as associating the SRH of older women with their physical performance and QOL.

COMPARISON OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVEL BETWEEN COLOMBIAN AND BRAZILIAN PHYSICAL EDUCATION STUDENTS

Introduction: Evidence suggests that populations of developing countries present high levels of sedentarism. In contrast, it is also shown that educational level and access to information regarding the health benefits of exercise can raise a population’s level of physical activity (LPA). Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the morphological profile (MP), level of physical activity (LPA) and cardiovascular risk among Brazilian (BPES) and Colombian physical education students (CPES) in an effort to determine if these specific subjects presented different results among themselves and in relation to normative data for each country. Method: The subjects, 59 BPES and 65 CPES, were evaluated through IPAQ in its short form, and had their MP determined through a bioelectric scale and waist measurement to determine the cardiovascular risk. Results: As result we verified that between BPES and CPES only waist circumference (WC) had significant difference (p = 0.016), being higher for CPES males. Comparing the results of the subjects with normative data, with the exception of CPES males, we observed higher LPA, better MP, and lower WC values. Female CPES were more active than their male peers, the opposite being true for the Brazilian subjects. Conclusion: We conclude that the repetitive exposition to information regarding the benefits of physical activity and the access to installations that allows for its practice not only raises LPA of physical education students, but also improves, in general, their MP and cardiovascular risk.