It was important to show concrete means maintaining or improving functional fitness of elderly. However, functional fitness norms in relation to an independent lifestyle are unclear. The purpose of this study was (1) to compare the characteristics of functional fitness of Japanese elderly women living at home independently (independent group, n=27, 67.5±6.0 yrs) with those of geriatric health services facility residents (dependent group, n=24, 81.3±8.1 yrs) ; and (2) to develop a minimum functional fitness standard discriminating between independence and dependence. The functional fitness variables were grip strength (GS), sit and reach (SR), one leg balance with eyes open (OLBEO), 10m obstacle walking time (10OW), 6-minute walking distance (6MD), sit-ups (Kraus-Weber test: KWt), functional reach (FR), standing, hand-working (HW), self-care-working (SCW) and number of daily steps (STEP). Logistic regression was conducted to identify the factors most strongly associated with an independent lifestyle. Discriminant analysis was performed to establish functional fitness norms. Both groups were significantly different in age, which imposed a limitation on interpretation of these data. So we used the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to assess these data. GS, SR, 10OW, 6MD, KWt, FR, standing, HW and STEP in an independent group were significantly higher (p<0.05-0.0001) as compare to those in a dependent group. GS, KWt, HW and STEP were related to an independent lifestyle after adjusting age. Discriminant analysis revealed the target levels of GS, SR, OLBEO, 10OW, 6MD, KWt, FR, standing, HW, SCW and STEP for living at home independently were 16.1kg, 5.8cm, 35.2 sec, 14.5 sec, 363.0m, 20.4 points, 23.7cm, 15.0 sec, 50.4 sec, 16.7 sec and 4,542 steps, respectively. These results show the maintenance of functional fitness above those values might be important for living at home independently with keeping high ADL and QOL for elderly women.

DESCENTE SPORTS SCIENCE Vol.24/THE DESCENTE AND ISHIMOTO MEMORIAL FOUNDATION FOR THE PROMOTION SPORTS SCIENCE