In Japan, the population is aging as fast as the world has never experienced, and medical and care demand will continue to expand.
According to the recent National Livelihood Survey by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, Japan, frailty was ranked the third, osteoporotic fractures and falls were ranked the fourth, and osteoarthritis was ranked the fifth cause of disability requiring support or long-term care, followed by dementia and cardiovascular disease. It is known that musculoskeletal diseases can affect mobile function, activities of daily living, and consequently, the quality of life. In this context, the Japanese Orthopaedic Association proposed the term ‘locomotive syndrome’ to designate a condition requiring nursing care or the risk of developing such a condition, following a decline in mobility resulting from one or more disorders of the locomotive organs, which include the bones, joints, muscles, and nerves.
To prevent disability, it is important to examine epidemiological indices, such as the prevalence of diseases that result in disability. However, little information is available regarding epidemiology of locomotive syndrome and its interaction between sarcopenia and frailty, because only a few population-based studies have yet been conducted in this context.　
The Research on Osteoarthritis/Osteoporosis Against Disability (ROAD) study began in 2005. It is a prospective cohort study that aims to elucidate the environmental and genetic background of bone and joint diseases. The 3-year follow-up (second survey) of the ROAD study was conducted on individuals of the same communities in 2008-2010, the 7-year follow-up (third survey) in 2012-2013, and the 10-year follow-up (fourth survey) in 2015-2016.
In this presentation, we will clarify the prevalence of locomotive syndrome, and its relation to sarcopenia, and frailty, based on the data of individuals in whom all measurements relevant to the diagnosis of such disorders were collected in the third survey of the ROAD study conducted in 2012-2013.