Section of Neuromedical Science, Division of Bioscience, Institute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama, Toyama 930-0194, Japan.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Feb 9;20(4):3016. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20043016.
Frailty is a common age-related condition linked with mobility disorders, long-term care, and death. To prevent frailty, physical activities are considered effective. Several studies have indicated that physical activity can influence mental health as well as body function. Physical activity, cognitive function, and subjective mental health must relate to each other. However, most studies only focus on one-to-one interactions. This observational study aims to clarify the overall relationship and causality between subjective mental health, daily physical activity, and physical and cognitive functions. We recruited 45 people (24 males and 21 females) over 65 years old. Participants visited the university twice and were subjected to activity measurements at home. To examine the causal relationships and related structures between the indicators, structural equation modeling was performed. The results suggest that daily physical activity explains physical function, physical function explains cognitive function, and cognitive function explains subjective mental health, quality of life, and happiness. This study is the first to clarify interactive relationships as an axis that start from daily physical activity to happiness in older adults. Upregulating daily physical activity may improve physical and cognitive functions as well as mental health; this might protect and ameliorate physical, mental, and social frailties.
衰弱是一种常见的与年龄相关的病症，与行动障碍、长期护理和死亡有关。为了预防衰弱，人们认为体育活动是有效的。有几项研究表明，体育活动不仅可以影响身体健康，还可以影响心理健康。身体活动、认知功能和主观心理健康必须相互关联。然而，大多数研究只关注一对一的相互作用。本观察性研究旨在阐明主观心理健康、日常身体活动以及身体和认知功能之间的整体关系和因果关系。我们招募了 45 名 65 岁以上的人（24 名男性和 21 名女性）。参与者两次访问大学，并在家中接受活动测量。为了检验指标之间的因果关系和相关结构，我们进行了结构方程建模。结果表明，日常体育活动解释身体功能，身体功能解释认知功能，认知功能解释主观心理健康、生活质量和幸福感。这项研究首次阐明了从日常体育活动到老年人幸福感的相互作用关系轴。增加日常体育活动可能会改善身体和认知功能以及心理健康；这可能会保护和改善身体、心理和社会脆弱性。
