@article {11787, title = {Associations Between Cognitive Function, Balance, and Gait Speed in Community-Dwelling Older Adults with COPD.}, journal = {Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy}, volume = {46}, year = {2023}, pages = {46-52}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at risk for physical and cognitive impairment. Cognitive function is associated with falls in older adults. However, it is unknown whether a relationship exists between cognitive function and falls in patients with COPD. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between cognitive function, balance, and gait speed in older adults with COPD.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A secondary analysis was performed using data from the 2010 wave of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Cognitive (immediate and delayed recall, executive function) and physical (gait speed, tandem balance time) measure data were extracted for older adults with COPD (n = 382) and an age-matched control group without COPD (n = 382) who met inclusion/exclusion criteria. Multivariate linear regression modeling was performed to examine associations between cognitive function and mobility or balance while controlling for age, gender, body mass index, grip strength, and education.

RESULTS: In COPD, delayed recall was significantly associated with tandem balance performance (β = 1.42, P < .05). Other cognitive measures were not associated with gait speed or balance.

CONCLUSION: In older adults with COPD, cognitive function was associated with balance and mobility. Screening of cognitive function, specifically delayed recall, should be a part of the management of falls in this population.

}, keywords = {balance, Cognition, Community-dwelling, COPD, Gait speed}, issn = {2152-0895}, doi = {10.1519/JPT.0000000000000323}, author = {Gore, Shweta and Blackwood, Jennifer and Ziccardi, Tyler} } @article {10176, title = {Home-based gait speed assessment: Normative data and racial/ethnic correlates among older adults.}, journal = {Journal of the American Medical Directors Association}, year = {2019}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVES: To determine home-based gait speed performance and its associations with sociodemographic and health-related factors among older adults.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of a nationally representative US population sample.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Homes of Health and Retirement Study (HRS) participants.

METHODS: Walk test data measured at home over 2.5~m were aggregated for 6983 individuals, aged >=65~years (mean age 74.8 {\textpm} 6.9~years, 54.2\% women), from the 2006 and 2008 HRS waves. Means for gait speed at normal pace were determined for demographic and clinical groupings; association of gait speed with demographic, socioeconomic status, and health factors were examined. Four-year mortality was predicted from baseline slow gait status defined using demographic-based cutoff~scores as well as commonly recommended cutoff scores (100 or 60~cm/s).

RESULTS: Home-based gait speed (cm/s) means were lower for female than male (9.6\% difference), older than younger (18.0\% difference), African American than white (20.5\% difference), and Hispanic than Non-Hispanic (10.3\% difference) participants. Differences by age group, race, and ethnicity remained significant within sexes (P~<~.001). Lower speed was associated with African American race and all health problems; higher speed was associated with higher socioeconomic status and alcohol consumption. Four-year mortality was predicted by slow gait status. Predictive validity was, in general, higher for slow gait cutoff scores defined by demographic characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Mean gait speed measured at home differs among older (aged >=65~years) US resident population groups defined by sex, age, race, ethnicity, health status, and combinations of these factors, and predicts 4-year mortality when substantially slower than group-based norms. These findings may assist researchers and clinicians in determining normal and abnormal gait performance in older adults in community settings.

}, keywords = {Gait speed, Racial/ethnic differences}, issn = {1538-9375}, doi = {10.1016/j.jamda.2019.06.002}, author = {David A. Boulifard and Emmeline Ayers and Joe Verghese} } @article {9992, title = {Marriage and physical capability at mid to later life in England and the USA.}, journal = {PLoS One}, volume = {14}, year = {2019}, pages = {e0209388}, abstract = {Background Married people have lower rates of mortality and report better physical and mental health at older ages, compared to their unmarried counterparts. However, there is limited evidence on the association between marriage and physical capability, the ability to carry out the tasks of daily living, which is predictive of future mortality and social care use. We investigate the association between marital status and physical capability at mid to later life in England and the United States. Methods We examine the association between marriage and physical capability at mid to later life in England and the USA using two performance-based measures of physical capability: grip strength and walking speed. Multiple linear regression was carried out on Wave 4 (2008) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and Waves 8 and 9 (2006 and 2008) of the US Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Results In age adjusted models married men and women had better physical capability than their unmarried counterparts. Much of the marriage advantage was explained by the greater wealth of married people. However, remarried men were found to have stronger grip strength and widowed and never married men had a slower walking speed than men in their first marriage, which was not explained by wealth, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, health behaviours, chronic disease or depressive symptoms. There were no differences in the association between England and the USA. Conclusions Marriage may be an important factor in maintaining physical capability in both England and the USA, particularly because of the greater wealth which married people have accrued by the time they reach older ages. The grip strength advantage for remarried men may be due to unobserved selective factors into remarriage.}, keywords = {Disabilities, Gait speed, Grip strength, Marriage}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0209388}, author = {Wood, Natasha and McMunn, Anne and Webb, Elizabeth and Stafford, Mai} } @article {9982, title = {Personality and walking speed across adulthood: Prospective evidence from five samples}, journal = {Social Psychological and Personality Science}, volume = {9}, year = {2018}, pages = {773-780}, abstract = {Walking speed is one marker of health in adulthood. Although personality may contribute to gait speed, there is limited longitudinal data on this association. Thus, the present study examined whether personality traits are prospectively associated with walking speed among middle aged and older adults. Participants were adults aged from 25 to 100 years old (N > 15,000) drawn from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study Graduate and Sibling samples, the Midlife in the United States Survey, the Health and Retirement Study, and the National Health and Aging Trends Survey. Across most samples and in a meta-analysis, lower neuroticism and higher extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness at baseline were prospectively related to faster gait speed. In the HRS, lower neuroticism and higher extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness were related to slower gait speed decline. This study provides robust evidence that walking speed in adulthood reflects, in part, the individual{\textquoteright}s personality.}, keywords = {Cognition \& Reasoning, Gait speed, Personality}, issn = {1948-5506}, doi = {10.1177/1948550617725152}, author = {Yannick Stephan and Angelina R Sutin and Bovier-Lapierre, Gabriel and Antonio Terracciano} } @article {9541, title = {Socioeconomic status, non-communicable disease risk factors, and walking speed in older adults: multi-cohort population based study}, journal = {BMJ}, volume = {360}, year = {2018}, pages = {k1046}, abstract = {Objective To assess the association of low socioeconomic status and risk factors for non-communicable diseases (diabetes, high alcohol intake, high blood pressure, obesity, physical inactivity, smoking) with loss of physical functioning at older ages. Design Multi-cohort population based study. Setting 37 cohort studies from 24 countries in Europe, the United States, Latin America, Africa, and Asia, 1990-2017. Participants 109 107 men and women aged 45-90 years. Main outcome measure Physical functioning assessed using the walking speed test, a valid index of overall functional capacity. Years of functioning lost was computed as a metric to quantify the difference in walking speed between those exposed and unexposed to low socioeconomic status and risk factors. Results According to mixed model estimations, men aged 60 and of low socioeconomic status had the same walking speed as men aged 66.6 of high socioeconomic status (years of functioning lost 6.6 years, 95\% confidence interval 5.0 to 9.4). The years of functioning lost for women were 4.6 (3.6 to 6.2). In men and women, respectively, 5.7 (4.4 to 8.1) and 5.4 (4.3 to 7.3) years of functioning were lost by age 60 due to insufficient physical activity, 5.1 (3.9 to 7.0) and 7.5 (6.1 to 9.5) due to obesity, 2.3 (1.6 to 3.4) and 3.0 (2.3 to 4.0) due to hypertension, 5.6 (4.2 to 8.0) and 6.3 (4.9 to 8.4) due to diabetes, and 3.0 (2.2 to 4.3) and 0.7 (0.1 to 1.5) due to tobacco use. In analyses restricted to high income countries, the number of years of functioning lost attributable to low socioeconomic status by age 60 was 8.0 (5.7 to 13.1) for men and 5.4 (4.0 to 8.0) for women, whereas in low and middle income countries it was 2.6 (0.2 to 6.8) for men and 2.7 (1.0 to 5.5) for women. Within high income countries, the number of years of functioning lost attributable to low socioeconomic status by age 60 was greater in the United States than in Europe. Physical functioning continued to decline as a function of unfavourable risk factors between ages 60 and 85. Years of functioning lost were greater than years of life lost due to low socioeconomic status and non-communicable disease risk factors. Conclusions The independent association between socioeconomic status and physical functioning in old age is comparable in strength and consistency with those for established non-communicable disease risk factors. The results of this study suggest that tackling all these risk factors might substantially increase life years spent in good physical functioning.}, keywords = {Cross-National, Gait speed, Risk Factors, Socioeconomic factors}, issn = {0959-8138}, doi = {10.1136/bmj.k1046}, url = {http://www.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/bmj.k1046https://syndication.highwire.org/content/doi/10.1136/bmj.k1046http://data.bmj.org/tdm/10.1136/bmj.k1046}, author = {Stringhini, Silvia and Carmeli, Cristian and Markus Jokela and Mauricio Avendano and McCrory, Cathal and d{\textquoteright}Errico, Angelo and Bochud, Murielle and Barros, Henrique and Costa, Giuseppe and Chadeau-Hyam, Marc and Delpierre, Cyrille and Gandini, Martina and Fraga, Silvia and Goldberg, Marcel and Giles, Graham G and Lassale, Camille and Kenny, Rose Anne and Kelly-Irving, Michelle and Paccaud, Fred and Layte, Richard and Muennig, Peter and Michael Marmot and Ribeiro, Ana Isabel and Severi, Gianluca and Andrew Steptoe and Shipley, Martin J and Zins, Marie and Johan P Mackenbach and Vineis, Paolo and Mika Kivim{\"a}ki} }