Association between walking speed and cognitive domain functions in Chinese suburban-dwelling older adults

Objective To examine the relationship among walking speed, cognitive impairment, and cognitive domain functions in older men and women living in a Chinese suburban community. Methods In total, 625 elderly (72.54 ± 5.80 years old) men (n = 258) and women (n = 367) from the Chongming district of Shanghai participated in this study. All participants had Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), 4-m walking test, medical history questionnaire, and physical examination. They were grouped according to walking speed (>0.8 vs. ≤ 0.8 m/s) with the stratification of sex. The odds ratio (OR) and the 95% confidence interval (CI) were assessed using the chi-square test and logistic regression analysis. Results Around 11.6% of men and 14.2% of women had slow walking speeds. After adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI), education level, spouse, faller, the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) score, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, and low back pain, walking speed was negatively related to cognitive impairment in men (OR 0.11 [95% CI: 0.01, 0.94]; p = 0.043). In addition, the relationship between walking speed and impaired orientation was significant in both men (OR 0.003 [95% CI: 0.001, 0.05]; p < 0.001) and women (OR 0.15 [95% CI: 0.03, 0.75]; p = 0.021). Conclusion The relationship between walking speed and cognitive impairment was only significant in men, but the association with impaired orientation was found in both men and women. Assessing the walking speed of the elderly is beneficial, which may help with early detection and early therapeutic prevention of cognitive impairment.

[1]  Xiaoyan Zhang,et al.  Association Between Serum Follicle-Stimulating Hormone and Sarcopenia and Physical Disability Among Older Chinese Men: Evidence From a Cross-Sectional Study , 2022, Frontiers in Medicine.

[2]  T. Hänninen,et al.  Associations Between Physical and Executive Functions Among Community-Dwelling Older Men and Women. , 2021, Journal of aging and physical activity.

[3]  Weibo Ma,et al.  Long Sleep Duration Associated With Cognitive Impairment in Chinese Community-Dwelling Older Adults , 2021, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[4]  Weibo Ma,et al.  Relationship Between Physical Performance and Mild Cognitive Impairment in Chinese Community-Dwelling Older Adults , 2021, Clinical interventions in aging.

[5]  H. Shimada,et al.  Association between self‐reported night sleep duration and cognitive function among older adults with intact global cognition , 2020, International journal of geriatric psychiatry.

[6]  T. Hortobágyi,et al.  Effects of low- and high-intensity physical exercise on physical and cognitive function in older persons with dementia: a randomized controlled trial , 2020, Alzheimer's Research & Therapy.

[7]  T. He,et al.  Health literacy and its effect on chronic disease prevention: evidence from China’s data , 2020, BMC Public Health.

[8]  G. Onder,et al.  Age- and Gender-Related Changes in Physical Function in Community-Dwelling Brazilian Adults Aged 50 to 102 Years. , 2019, Journal of geriatric physical therapy.

[9]  Hong Ding,et al.  Correlation Between Depressive Symptoms And Quality Of Life, And Associated Factors For Depressive Symptoms Among Rural Elderly In Anhui, China , 2019, Clinical interventions in aging.

[10]  Jian-Min Yuan,et al.  Dietary pattern in midlife and cognitive impairment in late life: a prospective study in Chinese adults. , 2019, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[11]  L. Fratiglioni,et al.  Disability trajectories and mortality in older adults with different cognitive and physical profiles , 2019, Aging Clinical and Experimental Research.

[12]  Liang‐Kung Chen,et al.  Role of gait speed and grip strength in predicting 10-year cognitive decline among community-dwelling older people , 2019, BMC Geriatrics.

[13]  M. Izquierdo,et al.  Assessing the impact of physical exercise on cognitive function in older medical patients during acute hospitalization: Secondary analysis of a randomized trial , 2019, PLoS medicine.

[14]  Changwei Li,et al.  Physical performance and cognitive functioning among individuals with diabetes: Findings from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study Baseline Survey , 2018, Journal of advanced nursing.

[15]  E. Y. Kim,et al.  Longitudinal association between brain volume change and gait speed in a general population , 2019, Experimental Gerontology.

[16]  Xiuying Hu,et al.  Physical Predictors of Cognitive Function in Individuals With Hypertension: Evidence from the CHARLS Basline Survey , 2019, Western journal of nursing research.

[17]  Richard W. Bohannon,et al.  Four-Meter Gait Speed: Normative Values and Reliability Determined for Adults Participating in the NIH Toolbox Study. , 2019, Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation.

[18]  S. Lord,et al.  Associations Between Gait Speed and Cognitive Domains in Older People with Cognitive Impairment. , 2019, Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD.

[19]  D. Aarsland,et al.  Reduced Walking Speed in Subjective and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Cross-Sectional Study , 2019, Journal of geriatric physical therapy.

[20]  J. Morley.  An Overview of Cognitive Impairment. , 2018, Clinics in geriatric medicine.

[21]  Olga Masot,et al.  Fear of falling in community-dwelling older adults: A cause of falls, a consequence, or both? , 2018, PloS one.

[22]  M. Orrell,et al.  Walking Speed, Cognitive Function, and Dementia Risk in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing , 2018, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[23]  Guy B. Williams,et al.  Hippocampal Stratum Radiatum, Lacunosum, and Moleculare Sparing in Mild Cognitive Impairment. , 2017, Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD.

[24]  H. Soininen,et al.  Multidomain lifestyle intervention benefits a large elderly population at risk for cognitive decline and dementia regardless of baseline characteristics: The FINGER trial , 2017, Alzheimer's & Dementia.

[25]  S. Studenski,et al.  Slowing gait and risk for cognitive impairment , 2017, Neurology.

[26]  W. M. van der Flier,et al.  Gait Speed and Grip Strength Reflect Cognitive Impairment and Are Modestly Related to Incident Cognitive Decline in Memory Clinic Patients With Subjective Cognitive Decline and Mild Cognitive Impairment: Findings From the 4C Study , 2017, The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences.

[27]  Naoki Yamawaki,et al.  A Corticocortical Circuit Directly Links Retrosplenial Cortex to M2 in the Mouse , 2016, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[28]  Mohan Giri,et al.  Prevalence and correlates of cognitive impairment and depression among elderly people in the world’s fastest growing city, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China , 2016, Clinical interventions in aging.

[29]  S. Studenski,et al.  Rising Energetic Cost of Walking Predicts Gait Speed Decline With Aging. , 2016, The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences.

[30]  David J. Bucci,et al.  Retrosplenial Cortex and Long-Term Memory: Molecules to Behavior , 2015, Neural plasticity.

[31]  Olaf Blanke,et al.  Brain system for mental orientation in space, time, and person , 2015, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[32]  L. Koski,et al.  Predictors of Future Cognitive Decline in Persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment , 2012, Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders.