Relationships between body mass index, lifestyle habits, and locomotive syndrome in young‐ and middle‐aged adults: A cross‐sectional survey of workers in Japan

OBJECTIVES: Although many studies have examined locomotive syndrome (LS) among elderly people, few studies have examined LS in young‐ and middle‐aged adults. This study aimed to provide basic data on the epidemiological characteristics of LS, including in young‐ and middle‐aged adults. METHOD: We conducted a cross‐sectional survey of a nonrandom sample of 852 adults aged 18–64 (678 males, 174 females) working in five companies in Japan, between December 2015 and February 2018. LS stage was determined using the criteria proposed by the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA). LS stage 0 was defined as No‐LS, and stages 1 and 2 were defined as LS. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the independent relationship between LS and sociodemographic, smoking, alcohol drinking (AD), frequency of breakfast consumption (FBC), dietary variety score (DVS), and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) activity score after adjusting for age and sex. RESULTS: We found that 23.1% of participants were evaluated as LS, including 21.5% of males and 29.3% of females (P < 0.05). Participants aged ≥45 years exhibited higher rates of LS (males: 23.1%, females: 43.6%) compared with those aged <45 years (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that age, body mass index (BMI), AD, UCLA activity score, and FBC were also related to LS. CONCLUSION: Education initiatives about LS should be targeted not only to elderly populations but also to young‐ and middle‐aged adults in the workplace.