【Mother's Day on May 10th】Survey on the Reality of 'Leg, Hip, and Joint Pain' that Stops Parents' Walking ~Towards a Future Where They Can Keep Walking Forever. A Doctor Talks About the Importance of "Early Medical Consultation"~
Zimmer Biomet Japan conducted a survey on "parents' leg and joint pain and family awareness" ahead of Mother's Day. The survey revealed that about 40% of children do not recommend medical consultation even when aware of their parents' pain, often overlooking it as a natural part of aging, highlighting a lack of awareness regarding future caregiving risks.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: May 1, 2026 at 00:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 30, 2026 at 15:32
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 30, 2026 at 15:51 (19 min after Collected)
Zimmer Biomet G.K. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Norio Uchida), the Japanese subsidiary of Zimmer Biomet, a global leader in the MedTech industry, conducted a survey on "parents' leg, hip, and joint pain and family awareness" targeting 1,200 men and women aged 20-60 nationwide, whose parents (father or mother) are alive, ahead of "Mother's Day" (May 10, 2026).
With the advancement of an aging society, the population requiring nursing care is increasing year by year, and the burden on families and society as a whole is becoming serious. At the same time, with the extension of average life expectancy, there is a growing need to "want to keep walking on one's own feet for as long as possible." This survey aimed to investigate how families become aware of and act upon "parents' leg, hip, and joint pain," which can be the gateway to caregiving issues, in order to realize a future where people can continue walking for a long time. The results revealed that while children feel changes in their parents' lives, there are communication barriers within families where medical consultation is not recommended due to children's reluctance to interfere with their parents, and leg, hip, and joint pain is often overlooked as "natural changes due to aging," thus not being recognized as a risk factor for future caregiving.
This release explains the survey results, along with Dr. Hisaharu Shirai, Chief of Orthopedics at Yokohama Sakae Kyosai Hospital, discussing the "risk of neglected pain leading to the need for nursing care" and "daily changes that serve as a guide for medical consultation."
## Survey Summary
* Around 80% of children are interested in their parents' health, but there is a difference in "awareness of life changes," with approximately 50% for fathers and 60% for mothers.
* Approximately 60% of the triggers for noticing parents' pain are "the parents' own statements." Children often don't notice unless told.
* Even when aware of pain, about 40% of children do not "recommend medical consultation." One reason is the misconception that it's "due to aging."
* Top reasons for not recommending medical consultation include "the person themselves dislikes it" and "it's not my place to interfere," indicating family communication barriers.
* More than half of children are not aware that neglecting leg, hip, and joint pain "leads to future caregiving risks."
* Children who are aware of caregiving risks are about twice as likely to recommend medical consultation compared to those who are not.
## Parents' Leg, Hip, and Joint Problems Visible Through Life Changes. Health Interest Exists, But "Daily Changes" Are Often Overlooked.
Approximately 80% of children expressed "interest (total)" in their parents' health, with 76.1% for fathers and 81.9% for mothers. However, only 48.5% for fathers and 59.4% for mothers "were aware (total)" of changes in their parents' lives, revealing a discrepancy between the high level of interest and actual awareness.
Regarding changes in parents' lives, "decreased walking speed (27.6%)", "reduced frequency of going out (24.0%)", and "avoiding stairs and slopes (11.0%)" were among the top changes related to walking function and range of activity. However, the most common perception of the cause was "natural due to aging (54.2%)" (targeting n=878 who recognized changes in their parents). Furthermore, the most common trigger for noticing parents' pain was "the person themselves spoke about the pain (60.8%)", significantly surpassing objective observations such as "trouble standing up or sitting down (31.8%)" and "changed way of walking (23.9%)". These results suggest that unless parents vocalize their discomfort, signs of discomfort are not given attention as merely age-related, and children tend to be less aware of their parents' pain.
## Even When Aware of Parents' Pain, About 40% Are "Procrastinators" Who Don't Recommend Medical Consultation. Family Communication Barriers Hinder Medical Consultation.
Among children who recognized their parents' leg, hip, or joint pain, or were told about it by their parents (n=778), the percentage who "did not recommend" seeing an orthopedist was 43.6% (15.2% wanted to recommend but didn't, 28.4% never recommended/didn't think it was necessary). The top reasons for not recommending were "no particular reason (28.9%)", "the person themselves dislikes it (or seems to) (21.8%)", "I don't think it's my place to interfere (21.2%)", and "it's unavoidable due to aging (19.5%)" (targeting n=339 who did not recommend consultation).
Additionally, the estimated duration of parents' pain was "4 years or more (39.7%)" and "2-3 years (20.3%)" (targeting n=632 who recognized parents' pain), suggesting that approximately 60% of parents may be suffering from pain for a long time. Even when aware of parents' pain, families are unable to prompt concrete treatment actions due to communication barriers or reluctance, leading to a situation where pain is endured or observed, resulting in prolonged or worsened conditions—a "procrastinator" group.
Among those who answered that they "can talk about health (total)" with their parents on a daily basis, 82.2% of children who recommended consultation (n=439) did so, compared to 63.4% of those who did not recommend (n=339), showing a difference of about 19 percentage points. This indicates that the presence of daily communication leads to concrete actions like recommending medical consultation.
Leg, hip, and joint pain is
With the advancement of an aging society, the population requiring nursing care is increasing year by year, and the burden on families and society as a whole is becoming serious. At the same time, with the extension of average life expectancy, there is a growing need to "want to keep walking on one's own feet for as long as possible." This survey aimed to investigate how families become aware of and act upon "parents' leg, hip, and joint pain," which can be the gateway to caregiving issues, in order to realize a future where people can continue walking for a long time. The results revealed that while children feel changes in their parents' lives, there are communication barriers within families where medical consultation is not recommended due to children's reluctance to interfere with their parents, and leg, hip, and joint pain is often overlooked as "natural changes due to aging," thus not being recognized as a risk factor for future caregiving.
This release explains the survey results, along with Dr. Hisaharu Shirai, Chief of Orthopedics at Yokohama Sakae Kyosai Hospital, discussing the "risk of neglected pain leading to the need for nursing care" and "daily changes that serve as a guide for medical consultation."
## Survey Summary
* Around 80% of children are interested in their parents' health, but there is a difference in "awareness of life changes," with approximately 50% for fathers and 60% for mothers.
* Approximately 60% of the triggers for noticing parents' pain are "the parents' own statements." Children often don't notice unless told.
* Even when aware of pain, about 40% of children do not "recommend medical consultation." One reason is the misconception that it's "due to aging."
* Top reasons for not recommending medical consultation include "the person themselves dislikes it" and "it's not my place to interfere," indicating family communication barriers.
* More than half of children are not aware that neglecting leg, hip, and joint pain "leads to future caregiving risks."
* Children who are aware of caregiving risks are about twice as likely to recommend medical consultation compared to those who are not.
## Parents' Leg, Hip, and Joint Problems Visible Through Life Changes. Health Interest Exists, But "Daily Changes" Are Often Overlooked.
Approximately 80% of children expressed "interest (total)" in their parents' health, with 76.1% for fathers and 81.9% for mothers. However, only 48.5% for fathers and 59.4% for mothers "were aware (total)" of changes in their parents' lives, revealing a discrepancy between the high level of interest and actual awareness.
Regarding changes in parents' lives, "decreased walking speed (27.6%)", "reduced frequency of going out (24.0%)", and "avoiding stairs and slopes (11.0%)" were among the top changes related to walking function and range of activity. However, the most common perception of the cause was "natural due to aging (54.2%)" (targeting n=878 who recognized changes in their parents). Furthermore, the most common trigger for noticing parents' pain was "the person themselves spoke about the pain (60.8%)", significantly surpassing objective observations such as "trouble standing up or sitting down (31.8%)" and "changed way of walking (23.9%)". These results suggest that unless parents vocalize their discomfort, signs of discomfort are not given attention as merely age-related, and children tend to be less aware of their parents' pain.
## Even When Aware of Parents' Pain, About 40% Are "Procrastinators" Who Don't Recommend Medical Consultation. Family Communication Barriers Hinder Medical Consultation.
Among children who recognized their parents' leg, hip, or joint pain, or were told about it by their parents (n=778), the percentage who "did not recommend" seeing an orthopedist was 43.6% (15.2% wanted to recommend but didn't, 28.4% never recommended/didn't think it was necessary). The top reasons for not recommending were "no particular reason (28.9%)", "the person themselves dislikes it (or seems to) (21.8%)", "I don't think it's my place to interfere (21.2%)", and "it's unavoidable due to aging (19.5%)" (targeting n=339 who did not recommend consultation).
Additionally, the estimated duration of parents' pain was "4 years or more (39.7%)" and "2-3 years (20.3%)" (targeting n=632 who recognized parents' pain), suggesting that approximately 60% of parents may be suffering from pain for a long time. Even when aware of parents' pain, families are unable to prompt concrete treatment actions due to communication barriers or reluctance, leading to a situation where pain is endured or observed, resulting in prolonged or worsened conditions—a "procrastinator" group.
Among those who answered that they "can talk about health (total)" with their parents on a daily basis, 82.2% of children who recommended consultation (n=439) did so, compared to 63.4% of those who did not recommend (n=339), showing a difference of about 19 percentage points. This indicates that the presence of daily communication leads to concrete actions like recommending medical consultation.
Leg, hip, and joint pain is