Yoshihiko Akasaki

In recent years, the rapid advancement of digital technology has made the use of information and communication technology(ICT) an integral part of daily life (Marsh & Rajaram, 2019). Consequently, ...

Background: Psychological frailty (PsF), encompassing cognitive and emotional vulnerabilities, remains understudied despite its potential impact on health outcomes in older adults. This cross‐sectional study aimed to explore the characteristics of diverse aspects of PsF, including cognitive frailty (CF), lower cognitive function, and affective frailty (AF), and to examine their associations with health‐related outcomes in community‐dwelling older adults. Methods: Data were analysed from 420 community‐dwelling older adults participating in the Tarumizu Study in Japan, excluding those exhibiting physical or social frailty. Participants were categorised into Robust, Lower cognitive function, CF, AF, and Multi‐domain PsF groups. AF was assessed using five items from the Geriatric Depression Scale, focusing on emotional vulnerability. Health outcomes included self‐rated health, subjective memory complaints (SMC), and functional ability of daily living. Associations were analysed using adjusted multiple regression models controlling for covariates. Results: PsF was present in 39.5% of the cohort (lower cognitive function: 18.1%, CF: 7.6%, AF: 11.0%, Multi‐domain PsF: 2.9%). In the adjusted models, only AF showed a significant positive association with SMC (adjusted risk ratio = 1.62, 95% CI: 1.06–2.42, p = 0.023). No significant associations were found between any PsF domain and subjective health or daily functional ability in the adjusted models. Conclusions: AF, characterised by emotional vulnerability, was uniquely associated with SMC, suggesting emotional factors may play a more central role than cognitive decline in shaping perceptions of memory problems. These findings highlight the heterogeneous nature of PsF and underscore the need for nuanced assessments to inform targeted prevention and intervention strategies.

Background: The percentage of people owning smartphones is rapidly increasing due to the digitalization of modern society. Among the smartphone’s features, route guidance using navigation applications establishes spontaneous and independent outdoor mobility, and can potentially support people’s health. Despite some known concerns regarding smartphone use while walking, navigation performance and eye-tracking behavior while walking with navigation applications in real-world environments are unclear. This study aimed to investigate the association between gaze behavior, particularly glancing at smartphones, and navigation performance among adult users of navigation applications while walking. Methods: This cross-sectional experimental study involved 33 healthy adults aged 20 years and older (20–81 years, 66.7% female) not requiring assistance with walking or activities of daily living. A route navigation task (RNT) of approximately 1,300 m was performed in a real outdoor environment. The participants were required to complete the route as quickly as possible, following the instructions of the navigation application. Simultaneously, the fixation time, number of fixations, number of saccades, total saccade angle, and number of glances at the smartphone were recorded using a wearable eye-tracking device. After checking the distribution of the obtained outcomes and performing correlation analysis, a generalized linear model (GLM) was created to investigate the relationship between the number of glances at the smartphone and the participants’ navigation performance and gaze behavior. To confirm the validity of the estimates for each GLM, a bootstrap sample of 2,000 iterations was used to evaluate the estimates. Results: Correlation analysis showed that the number of stops and route errors were moderately and positively correlated with the number of times participants glanced at their smartphones (PConclusions: In healthy adults, frequent screen glances while walking with a navigation application may interfere with navigation performance. Establishing an alternative navigation system that does not rely on screen-checking may help pedestrians move more efficiently and safely.

Evidence suggests that optimism has a positive impact on health status. Attentional bias modification (ABM) may be beneficial for enhancing optimism, but its effective application requires a detailed investigation of the association between attentional bias and optimism. This study aimed to determine the association between attentional bias and optimism based on different task types. Eighty-four participants completed the attentional bias measures using the dot-probe task (DPT), emotional visual search task (EVST) paradigms, and psychological assessments. Optimism was assessed using the Life Orientation Test-Revised with subscales for optimism and pessimism. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multivariate linear regression analysis were applied to investigate the association between optimism and attentional bias. Neither the attentional bias derived from DPT nor EVST was significantly correlated with optimism total score or subscales. Regression analysis also showed no association between attentional bias and optimism (DPT, β = 0.12; EVST, β = 0.09), optimism subscales (DPT, β = 0.09; EVST, β = 0.17), or pessimism subscales (DPT, β = −0.10; EVST, β = 0.02). Our findings showed no evidence that attentional biases derived from either the DPT or EVST measures are associated with optimism or pessimism. Further studies are needed to effectively adapt the ABM to enhance optimism.

Patients with heart disease are more likely to experience social frailty due to physical inactivity, which may affect meaningful activities such as hobbies. This study aimed to investigate (1) the association between heart disease and social frailty in community-dwelling older adults and (2) the characteristics of meaningful activities in community-dwelling older adults with heart disease. Data from 630 older adults who participated in a community-based health survey were obtained, including clinical history, meaningful activities, social frailty and psychosomatic functions. Participants were divided into two groups: those with heart disease (n = 79) and those without (n = 551), and comparisons were made. Social frailty was observed in 23.7% of participants with heart disease, and logistic regression revealed significant associations with heart disease and social frailty after adjusting for potential covariates (OR, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.06 3.67; p = 0.032). Participants with heart disease did not differ significantly in terms of satisfaction or performance; their frequency of engagement in meaningful activities was significantly lower than without heart disease (p = 0.041). These results suggest that heart disease and social frailty are associated in community-dwelling older adults, and that this demographic is inclined to engage in meaningful activities less frequently.

Background: The psychological condition and frequency of going out (FGO) of community-dwelling older adults after the spread of COVID-19 will provide insights for supporting the daily lives of community-dwelling older adults. Going out is defined as moving from one’s own home to a place or region beyond one’s own home and is considered to reflect the daily and social life of community-dwelling older adults. This study investigates the relationship between the FGO and current psychological condition after the second wave of COVID-19 in community-dwelling older adults in Japan. Methods: This study adopted a self-administered questionnaire by mail. A total of 493 members of CO-OP Kagoshima were included in the analysis and divided into two groups according to the change in FGO. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted after a bivariate analysis to investigate the relationship between the FGO and psychological condition. Results: Significant differences were noted between the groups with decreased FGO and those with increased/unchanged FGO in general and pandemic-related psychological condition. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed a significant relationship between FGO and psychological condition, such as mental fatigue, not smiling as much as before, and anxiousness to go outside. Conclusion: Community-dwelling older adults may have experienced a decrease in the frequency of going out and a detrimental effect on their psychological condition after the COVID-19 pandemic. This finding may inform strategies to identify priorities for psychological approaches altered by COVID-19 to prevent confinement and stress in older adults.

The study is cross-sectional in nature and aims to investigate the relationship of the frequency of socialization (FOS) to the daily life, social life, and physical function of community-dwelling adults aged 60 and over after the COVID-19 outbreak. A self-reported questionnaire survey was conducted on 3000 members of CO-OP Kagoshima, out of which 342 responses were received. Bivariate statistics was conducted followed by multiple logistic regression analysis. Questions with significant differences were set as independent variables, whereas the FOS was set as the dependent variable. Results indicate significant group differences between the decreased and increased/unchanged groups. After adjusting for potential covariates, multiple logistic regression analysis revealed decreases in the frequencies of cooking (OR: 0.07; 95% CI: 0.01–0.69; p = 0.02), shopping (OR: 18.76; 95% CI: 7.12–49.41; p < 0.01), and eating out (OR: 3.47; 95% CI: 1.21–9.97; p = 0.02), which were significantly associated with decreased FOS. The finding may inform policy making in identifying priorities for support in daily life for community-dwelling adults over the age of 60 undergoing social distancing.