RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PHYSICAL FUNCTION, BODY COMPOSITION AND PSYCHOSOMATIC STATE IN JAPANESE POSTPARTUM WOMEN

T. Araki¹, M. Kasuya²

¹Osaka Yukioka College of Health Science, Department of Physical Therapy, Osaka, Japan, ²In MuSE. LLC., Chiba, Japan

Background: Postpartum women are known to have reduced physical fitness. Few studies have reported on their physical function and body composition and examined their physical function and mental and physical awareness.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to understand the status of physical function, body composition, and psychological aspects of postpartum women and to gain insight into their recovery.

Methods: A questionnaire survey and physical fitness tests were conducted among postpartum women. The questionnaire asked about basic attributes, pregnancy and childbirth history, and postpartum complaints. In addition, Mobility difficulties were ascertained using a 25-question geriatric locomotive function scale (GLFS-25, Japanese Orthopedic Association). Awareness of fatigue and nervousness were ascertained using the Shitsu-taikan-sho-Scale (STSS) (Oka et al., 2019), developed as a rating index for alexithymia, and the Sence of Coherence (SOC) as an indicator of stress coping and health management skills were also surveyed. Higher scores on the GLFS-25 indicate reduced mobility, higher scores on the STSS indicate higher tendency alexithymia, and higher total SOC scores indicate higher stress coping ability. Physical fitness was measured by grip strength and seated body forward bending. Mobility function was assessed using the two-step test and the standing test from the locomotive syndrome risk test (JOA). Based on the results, the two-step value was calculated from the two-step test, and the standing test was scored at eight levels. Body composition was measured using In Body (ITO-InBody370). The muscle mass of each region obtained from body composition is calculated to the Skeletal Muscle Index (SMI) (Janssen et al 2002). For statistical analysis, descriptive statistics were performed for each item and correlation coefficients were calculated.

Results: Fifteen participants were included in the analysis. The participants were 35.9 years of age, 1.9 births, and 32.8 months since the latest birth. Subjective symptoms were shoulder stiffness, low back pain, and headache, highly prevalent. A total of 86.7% of the participants were assessed as reduced mobility function. Physical fitness showed lower levels than in previous studies, and body composition was similar to previous studies. Correlations between measures showed positive correlations between the standing test scores and grip strength, all SMIs, and GLFS-25, and negative correlations between the standing test scores and percent body fat. It also showed positive correlations between STSS and age, GLFS-25; negative correlations between STSS and 2-step values, SOC total score.

Conclusions: Postpartum women had a low level of physical fitness and mobility function. In terms of physical function and body composition, muscle mass correlated with the standing test scores, suggesting that body composition may predict lower limb muscle strength. Correlations between STSS and SOC total score, suggest that physical and mental awareness was related to the ability to cope with problems. These results suggest that body composition can be used to infer physical function, and we also have to assess the psychological aspects.

Implications: Continuous assessment of physical and mental health status in the postpartum period is of significance for physiotherapy research, as it can lead to appropriate interventions in physiotherapy.

Funding acknowledgements: This study was supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI (Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research), Grant Number 20K23148.

Keywords:
Postpartum
Body compopsition
Mobility function

Topics:
Pelvic, sexual and reproductive health
Health promotion & wellbeing/healthy ageing/physical activity
Primary health care

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: Osaka Yukioka College of Health Science

Committee: The Research Ethics Review Board

Ethics number: 33-0003