Body posture is a fundamental indicator for assessing health and quality of life, especially for elderly people. Deciphering the changes in body posture occurring with age is a current topic in the field of geriatrics. The aims of this study were to assess the parameters of standing body posture in the global sagittal plane and to determine the dynamics of changes in standing body posture occurring with age and differences between men and women. The measurements were performed on 226 individuals between the ages of 20 to 89 with a new photogrammetry, via which we assessed five postural angles - neck, thorax, waist, hip and knee. The data were analyzed with t-test, one-way ANOVA, linear regression model and generalized additive model. Among these segments studied here, neck changed most, while the middle segments of the body, waist and hip, were relative stable. Significant differences between men and women were found with respect to the angles of neck, thorax and hip. Three of the five postural angles were significantly influenced with aging, including increasing cervical lordosis, thoracic kyphosis and knee flexion, starting from no older than around 50 yrs. showed by fitting curve derived with generalized additive model. These changes were more marked among women. Besides, this study highlights the effects of age and gender on the complex interrelation between adjacent body segments in standing. The presented results showed changes in the parameters describing body posture throughout consecutive ages and emphasized that for an individualized functional analysis, it is essential to consider age-and gender-specific changes in the neck, thorax and knee. This paper presents useful externally generalizable information not only for clinical purposes but also to inform further research on larger numbers of subjects.

The associations of sarcopenia with adverse health status have highlighted the importance of sarcopenia research and intervention. This study was designed to analyze the characteristics of aging-related differences in appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM), handgrip strength (HS), gait speed (GS) and their associated factors in older Chinese, in order to generate guidance for sarcopenia intervention in this population. Population-based cross-sectional study. The criteria proposed by Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia were used to define low ASM, HS, and GS. The time required for five repeated chair stands (RCS) was also measured to evaluate physical performance. The differences of continuous variables were compared using one-way ANOVA tests and the Pearson correlation was used to analyze the relationship of each measurement adjusted by gender and age. Stepwise logistic regression was used to determine associated factors of low HS and low physical performance. The data were analyzed in a total of 218 younger adults (aged 20–59, 76 males, 142 females) and 461 older adults (≥60 year, 207 males and 254 females). There were significant differences among age groups for HS, GS, and RCS while females were found to have significantly lower HS and GS values. ASM was significantly correlated with HS but not with other measures. Correlations among HS and GS, RCS were influenced by age differences. In the older group, unstructured daily routine (OR = 2.77) was associated with the risk of low GS, while physical exercise (OR = 0.27), and engaging in hobbies (OR = 0.11) were associated with faster GS. Co-morbidity (OR = 1.99) was associated with the risk of reduced performance of RCS, while engaging in hobbies was associated with faster RCS performance (OR = 0.35). Muscle strength and physical performance varied with aging in older Chinese. Measures of GS, HS, and RCS provide a readily available and effective method for assessing the risk of functional mobility decline. Maintaining a healthy life style and physical activity throughout life is beneficial for older people to improve their physical performance, especially in the early stages of aging.

Background: Any form of physical activity is recommended for the older adults to maintain their physical function; however, the effect of daily activities on muscle function still needs to be investigated. Humans always use one dominant hand to perform tasks, providing a natural situation for research on the effect of daily activities on muscle function.Methods: Five hundred and twenty-six healthy adults were recruited from the community in Beijing. Muscle strength was assessed using a handgrip dynamometer, lean mass, fat mass, bone area and bone mineral content of upper limbs were assessed using dual-energy X ray-absorptiometry. The results were compared between the dominant and non-dominant upper limbs.Results: The dominant upper limb had better muscle strength, lean mass, bone area and bone mineral content than the non-dominant side. The difference in muscle strength and lean mass between the two upper limbs decreased with the advanced age. In older age, fat mass of upper limbs increased in men, but not in women.Conclusion: Daily activities can maintain better muscle function in the dominant upper limb than in the non-dominant side; however, the delaying effect on age-related decline in muscle function was limited.

Background: Decline in cognition and in locomotion is associated with aging. However, the relationship between them and the current occurrence of them in Chinese elderly people was weak.Methods: To investigate the details of these two functions in Chinese elderly people and to try to find some early recognition and intervention clues, data of MMSE test and usual gait speed from 4487 elderly people from seven provinces in China were analysed.Results: The prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia in persons aged 60 and over was 17.83% and 4.08%, respectively. Among 11 items of MMSE, calculation, three‐word recall, drawing two pentagons, and temporal orientation were the most commonly impaired items in persons with MCI or dementia. The gait speed of old persons with dementia was significantly slower than that of persons with MCI or NCI. Meanwhile, old persons with gait speed >1.39 m/s fast gait speed also had high MMSE scores and no dementia was detected by MMSE.Conclusion: The prevalence of dementia observed in this population was similar to that reported 20 years ago. Loss of temporal orientation and drawing two pentagons may supply more information for early recognition of cognitive impairment. Maintaining locomotion in a proper way may help old persons to prevent cognitive function decline.

Recently, poor sleep was closely related to physical function decline in older adults. To investigate the possible mediation pathway between them, the relationships among sleep status, lower limb composition, and physical performance were analyzed. The cross-sectional study included 323 adults (46% women) aged 60 years and above (mean age 71.7 years) from the community of China. Sleep duration and sleep satisfaction were collected by questionnaire. The composition of lower limbs was quantified by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Gait speed was measured as a physical performance indicator. The mediation role of low lean mass and high fat mass in the relationship between sleep status and physical performance was analyzed by bootstrap mediation analysis. The average sleep duration of participants was 6.8 h, about 43% participants were dissatisfied with their sleep. Compared with medium sleep duration, long sleep duration was associated with low lean mass (OR 2.630, 95% CI 1.390–5.013), high fat mass (OR 2.151, 95% CI 1.155–4.010), and slow gait speed (OR 3.143, 95% CI 1.700–5.880). Participants with long sleep duration and unsatisfactory sleep had the worst lower limb composition and physical performance among them. The mediation effect of lower limb composition on the relationship between long sleep and gait speed was significant, with 15.3% of the total effect being mediated by lean mass and 19.9% mediated by fat mass. Long and unsatisfactory sleep had a great relationship with poor physical performance, and the change of lower limb composition was one of the mediate factors involved in this relationship. The combination of sleep duration and sleep satisfaction together was a good indicator for sleep assessment, which provide a new strategy for the intervention of physical function decline in older adults. Not applicable.