Fumie Tazaki

Objective: In this study, we investigated the association between pre-frailty and decreased appetite in community-dwelling elderly individuals. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 204 elderly individuals (151 women, 53 men) aged ≥60 years (mean age 74.1±6.6 years), who underwent health check-ups in Kaizuka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan between August and September 2023. We recorded frailty, pre-frailty, appetite, eating habits, depressive symptoms, cognitive function, attention, and body composition. Participants were categorized into robust and pre-frailty groups based on Fried et al.’s definition of frailty. Univariate analysis was used to determine the association between the aforementioned variables. Binomial logistic regression analysis was performed to confirm the independent associated factors with items that showed significant differences, sex, age, and pre-frailty as independent, control, and dependent variables, respectively. The significance level was set at 5%. Results: We observed pre-frailty in 105 participants (51.5%) who showed significantly lower appetite, depressive symptoms, and lower attention. Decreased appetite odds ratio [OR] 3.703, and depressive symptoms OR 0.246 were independently associated with pre-frailty. Conclusion: In this study, we observed an independent association between pre-frailty, decreased appetite, and depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older adults.

In occupational therapy, crafts and groups are used as therapeutic tools, but their electrophysiological effects have not been well described. This study aimed to investigate the effects of group crafting on the physiological synchrony (PS) of dyadic heartbeats and on the autonomic activity and electroencephalogram (EEG) of individuals. In this cross-sectional study, individuals' EEG and dyadic electrocardiogram (ECG) were measured during the task in a variety of conditions. The three conditions were alone, parallel, nonparallel. Autonomic activity from the subjects' ECG, PS from the dyadic ECG, and current source density from exact Low Resolution Brain Electromagnetic Tomography (eLORETA) from subjects' EEG were analyzed. Measurements from 30 healthy young adults showed that the parallel condition significantly increased subjects' parasympathetic activity and dyadic PS. Parallel condition and frontal midline theta influenced parasympathetic activity, whereas parasympathetic activity was not associated with PS. Dyadic lag value were correlated with frontal delta, beta, and gamma activity. The results suggest that crafting in parallel groups increases parasympathetic activity and PS through different mechanisms, despite the absence of direct interaction. They also explain the electrophysiological evidence for the use of crafts and groups in psychiatric occupational therapy, such as increased relaxation and PS.