Performance-based assessments and demand for personal care in older Japanese people: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: To identify appropriate clinical tests for determining the demand for personal care in older Japanese people. DESIGN: Cross-sectional observation study. SETTING: Obu Study of Health Promotion for the Elderly (Obu, Aichi) and Tsukui Ordered Useful Care for Health (241 day-care centres) cohorts in Japan. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 10 351 individuals aged 65 years or older (6791 with personal care and 3560 without personal care) participated in the study. MEASURES: Physical performance tests included grip strength, the chair stand test, walking speed at a comfortable pace, and the timed up-and-go test. Personal care was defined as participants who had been certified in the national social long-term care insurance in Japan. RESULTS: Individuals who received personal care showed a significantly poorer performance than those without personal care for all physical performance tests (p<0.001). Gait speed was the most useful of the physical performance tests to determine the demand for personal care (receiver operating characteristic curve statistics: men, 0.92; women, 0.94; sensitivity: men, 86; women, 90; specificity: men, 85; women, 85). After adjustment for age, sex, cognitive impairment and other physical tests, all physical performance tests were individually associated with the demand for personal care. A slow gait speed (<1 m/s) was more strongly correlated with the demand for personal care than other performance measures (gait speed OR: 5.9; 95% CI: 5.0 to 6.9). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical tests of physical performance are associated with the demand for personal care in older people. Preventive strategies to maintain physical independence may be required in older adults who show a gait speed slower than 1 m/s. Further research is necessary to confirm these preliminary results.