Health checkup profile before age 65 and long-term care needs: a retrospective analysis of the Fukuoka-City Information Platform for Community-based Integrated Care.

BACKGROUND

The association between health status before age 65 and the occurrence of long-term care needs has not been extensively studied. We aimed to examine potential associated factors based on profiles from Japan's Specific Health Checkup program that are associated with the occurrence of long-term care needs in later life.

METHOD: A total of 13,379 residents aged 57-64 years without long-term care needs who underwent Japan's Specific Health Checkup in fiscal year 2012 were followed until March 2021. The occurrence of long-term care needs was defined as new certification for long-term care level 1 or higher under Japan's universal long-term care insurance system. Associations between health checkup profiles and the occurrence of long-term care needs were estimated using a Cox proportional hazards model.

RESULTS

During the median 8-year follow-up, 406 participants were newly certified as requiring long-term care. Older age, female sex, underweight, hypertension, diabetes, proteinuria, history of chronic disease (cerebrovascular disease, heart disease, and renal failure), current smoking, no regular exercise, self-reported slow walking speed, skipping breakfast, and eating before bedtime were significantly associated with higher risk of the need for long-term care in age- and sex-adjusted analyses.

CONCLUSIONS

Using a large-scale database of participants aged less than 65 years, this study found the significant associations between several health- and lifestyle-related characteristics and the subsequent need for long-term care. Our findings suggest that information collected through health checkups in midlife may be useful for characterizing individuals who may be more likely to require long-term care later in life.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: NA.