Association between working in small-scale cultivated land as a daily-life task and the physical and cognitive functions among elderly people in hilly and mountainous areas
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- Kitamura Mio
- Department of Community Medical and Welfare, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Graduate School, Tokushima University
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- Shirayama Yasuhiko
- Department of Community Medical and Welfare, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Graduate School, Tokushima University
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- Goto Takaharu
- Department of Prosthodontics and Oral Rehabilitation, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Graduate School, Tokushima University
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- Ichikawa Tetsuo
- Department of Prosthodontics and Oral Rehabilitation, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Graduate School, Tokushima University
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- Fujiwara Shinji
- Mima Municipal Koyadaira Clinic
Bibliographic Information
- Other Title
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- 中山間地域に居住する高齢者の生活行為としての畑作業と身体・認知機能との関連
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Description
<p>Aim: This study aimed to verify whether working in cultivated land as a daily-life task contributes to the maintenance and improvement of physical and cognitive functions.</p><p>Methods: The participants were 91 elderly people of ≥65 years of age who owned cultivated land in the mountainous Koyadaira district in Tokushima Prefecture. Sex, age, body mass index (BMI), walking speed as a physical function, and the mini-mental status examination (MMSE) score as a cognitive function were measured and analyzed in addition to the total working hours per week (WH) in cultivated land.</p><p>Results: The participants were 31 males and 60 females (mean age 78.5±6.6 years). The average values of the evaluated variables were as follows: WH, 18.0±13.2; BMI, 23.4±3.0 kg/m2; walking speed, 0.95±0.28 m/s; and MMSE score, 26.6±3.1 points. In addition, the Mann-Whitney U test and the Chi-square test showed no significant differences between sexes for each item. A logistic regression analysis showed that WH was significantly associated with MMSE (1, ≥28 points; 0, <28 points), and the odds ratio was 1.054 (p=0.010) in the model adjusted for age and BMI, while it was not significantly associated with walking speed (1, ≥1 m/s; 0, <1 m/s).</p><p>Conclusions: Working on small-scale cultivated land was significantly associated with the cognitive function but not the physical function. Routine work on small-scale cultivated land as a daily-life task would contribute to the suppression of cognitive decline in older people living in hilly and mountainous areas.</p>
Journal
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- Nippon Ronen Igakkai Zasshi. Japanese Journal of Geriatrics
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Nippon Ronen Igakkai Zasshi. Japanese Journal of Geriatrics 61 (1), 54-60, 2024-01-25
The Japan Geriatrics Society