Locomotive syndrome presents a risk for falls and fractures in the elderly Japanese population

Abstract

“Locomotive syndrome” is used to designate the condition of individuals with musculoskeletal disease who are highly likely to require nursing care. This article reviews screening, prevalence, causal and related factors, and the relationship between locomotive syndrome and falls and fractures in older adults with this syndrome. A few self-administered questionnaire tools are available to assess individuals for locomotive syndrome. Additionally, screening methods, including a physical functioning assessment, are appropriate for detailed discrimination of locomotive syndrome. The prevalence of locomotive syndrome is significantly higher in women than in men, and tends to increase markedly from 70 years of age. More severe locomotive syndrome is related to knee pain, osteoporosis, sarcopenia, and lumbar disease. The incidence of falling in locomotive syndrome is higher than the incidence for the older population in general. Locomotive training including squats and a unipedal standing exercise has been recommending to prevent locomotive syndrome. This training improves muscle strength and balance function for older people who have a risk for locomotive syndrome.

Sarcopenia is a risk factor for falling in independently living Japanese older adults: A 2‐year prospective cohort study of the GAINA study

“…A reduction in muscle mass can lead to loss of motor control as a consequence of impaired muscle function control, and support of joint motions required to avoid falls during postural gravitational changes and reflexion. A decline of locomotive function was related closely with fall history, and accordingly sarcopenia was considered to be a major component of LS . In fact, the present study showed the percentage of LS was higher in fallers .…”

The role of Perioperative Surgical Home on health and longevity in society: importance of the surgical prehabilitation program

“…The terms of frailty and locomotive syndrome are similar, but locomotive syndrome is specified as physical frailty with musculoskeletal disease without social or cognitive frailty ( Fig. 1) [13]. The associations among full performance (health), frailty and disability are shown in Fig.…”

Associations between depressive symptoms and geriatric syndromes in community-dwelling older adults in Japan: a cross-sectional study

“…Recent geriatric syndrome studies addressed a number of complex conditions associated with aging, such as depression, frailty [14], sarcopenia [15], and locomotive syndrome [16], while several studies focused on motor functions [17][18][19][20][21]. One study reported that community-dwelling frail older adults are at high risk of depression [22].…”