University of Tokyo Reports Findings in Information Technology (Predictive validity of the Questionnaire for Medical Checkup of Old-Old for functional disability: Using the National Health Insurance Database System): Information Technology

2023 FEB 13 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Information Technology Business Daily -- New research on Information Technology is the subject of a report. According to news originating from Tokyo, Japan, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “To enhance health services that can address multifaceted issues, the Questionnaire for Medical Checkup of Old-Old (QMCOO) was strategically developed to ascertain frailty status. Using the National Health Insurance database system, we aimed to clarify whether the QMCOO can predict new certifications for long-term care for disabilities.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Tokyo, “Of 20 151 adults aged 75 years who underwent health checkups in Kashiwa City, Japan, in fiscal year 2020 (examination rate 36.8%), 18 130 persons were included (mean age 80.1 ? 4.1 years, 55.1% women). The outcome was the new certification of long-term care until January 2022. From the medical care receipt data, QMCOO, age, sex, living arrangement, body mass index, comorbidity, and musculoskeletal and connective tissue diseases were evaluated. During the follow-up period, 727 (4.0%) participants had an incident disability (median follow up 457 days [quartile range 408-519 days]). The QMCOO’s predictive accuracy for new long-term care needs was optimal when the total score of 3/4 was used as the threshold. Older adults with scores 4 had a higher adjusted hazard ratio for incident disability (adjusted hazard ratio 2.5, 95% confidence interval 2.1-2.9). Furthermore, the adjusted hazard ratio was greatly enhanced with comorbidity (6.6, 95% confidence interval 4.8-8.9). The QMCOO, which reflects multifaceted frailty, might be predictive of incident disability, and its predictive accuracy could be improved by considering comorbidities.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “The comprehensive QMCOO could contribute to extending healthy life expectancy through efficiently assessing health care and preventing long-term care, even among the old-old in the latter stage who tended to suffer from multimorbidity. Geriatr Gerontol Int.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Predictive validity of the Questionnaire for Medical Checkup of Old-Old for functional disability: Using the National Health Insurance Database System. Geriatrics & Gerontology International, 2023;23(2):124-130. Geriatrics & Gerontology International can be contacted at: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA.

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Yasuyo Yoshizawa, Institute of Gerontology, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. Additional authors for this research include Tomoki Tanaka, Kenji Sugaya, Midori Yoshida, Son Bokyung, Weida Lyu, Kazuyo Tsushita and Katsuya Iijima.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1111/ggi.14533. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

The publisher’s contact information for the journal Geriatrics & Gerontology International is: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA.

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