Dataset Information

Association Between Quantitative Gait and Balance Measures and Total Daily Physical Activity in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Total daily physical activity is associated with a wide range of adverse health outcomes. We examined the extent to which quantitative measures of gait and balance abilities were associated with total daily physical activity, controlling for a variety of potential covariates.

Methods

Participants (n = 608) were older adults participating in the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a community-based cohort study of aging. Objective measures of total daily physical activity were derived from a wearable device. Gait and balance abilities were objectively quantified using a body-fixed sensor. We also collected measures of other motor functions, cognitive and psychosocial factors, and chronic health. We employed linear regression models to identify facets of mobility significantly associated with total daily physical activity, and tested for independence of these associations when all significant covariates were considered together in a final model.

Results

Three gait and balance measures were independently associated with total daily physical activity (p < .01), together accounting for approximately 16% of its variance. Other motor measures, cognitive and psychosocial factors, and chronic health accounted for 8.8%, 4.9%, and 6.4% of the variance, respectively, when considered in isolation. Considered together in a single model, all significant covariates accounted for approximately 21% of the variance in physical activity.

Conclusions

Gait and balance measures from a body-fixed sensor are strongly associated with objectively measured total daily physical activity in older adults. However, given the importance of physical activity to many health outcomes, further work is needed to more completely characterize the factors that may influence physical activity.

SUBMITTER: Dawe RJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5905609 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Association Between Quantitative Gait and Balance Measures and Total Daily Physical Activity in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Dawe Robert J RJ Leurgans Sue E SE Yang Jingyun J Bennett Joshua M JM Hausdorff Jeffrey M JM Lim Andrew S AS Gaiteri Chris C Bennett David A DA Buchman Aron S AS

The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences 20180401 5

<h4>Background</h4>Total daily physical activity is associated with a wide range of adverse health outcomes. We examined the extent to which quantitative measures of gait and balance abilities were associated with total daily physical activity, controlling for a variety of potential covariates.<h4>Methods</h4>Participants (n = 608) were older adults participating in the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a community-based cohort study of aging. Objective measures of total daily physical activity wer ...[more]

PMID: 28957994

Similar Datasets

Project description:Background: Recent studies associated gait patterns with cognitive impairment stages. The current study examined the relation between dementia type and spatiotemporal gait characteristics under different walking conditions in pre and mild neurocognitive disorder stage. Methods: Community-dwelling older adults (age 50+) with memory complaints consulting a memory clinic underwent, at baseline and during follow-up (every 4 months), a standard dementia assessment and a comprehensive spatiotemporal gait analysis [walking on an electronic walkway at usual pace (UP) with and without a counting-backwards (CW) or animal-reciting dual-task (AW), at fast (FP) and at slow (SP) pace]. At baseline the participants were categorized according to the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale. At the end of the study, the dementia diagnosis was used to stratify the categories in three outcome groups: developed "No-dementia," "AD+FTD" (grouping Alzheimer's or Fronto-temporal dementia) or "VascD+LBD" dementia (grouping Vascular dementia or Lewy body dementia). The gait characteristics were compared per category in paired groups. Sub-analyzing in the ≥70-years-old participants evaluated the age effect. Results: Five hundred and thirty-six participants, age 50-to-95-years old were followed for 31-to-41 months. In the CDR 0, no differences were seen between eventual dementia and no-dementia individuals. In the CDR 0.5, CW dual task cost (DTC) step width was larger in the imminent "AD+FTD" and AW (normalized) gait speed was slower in the future "VascD+LBD" group compared to the no-dementia participants. Slower UP (normalized) gait speed differed the future "VascD+LBD" from the "AD+FTD" individuals. In the CDR 1: Wider steps in UP, SP and CW differed the "VascD+LBD" from the "AD+FTD" group. In the ≥70-years old CDR 0 category, higher AW cycle time variability in the imminent "AD+FTD" dementia group, wider UP step width and higher AW cycle time variability in the "VascD+LBD" group differed them from the no-dementia group up to 3 years before dementia diagnosis. The distinctive gait characteristics between the no-dementia and the imminent dementia groups in CDR 0.5 and CDR 1 remained the same as in the overall group. However, no gait differences were found between "VascD+LBD" and "AD+FTD" groups in the pre-dementia stages. Conclusion: Distinctive spatiotemporal gait characteristics were associated with specific dementia types up to 3 years before diagnosis. The association is influenced by the cognitive stage and age.

Project description:BackgroundImpaired balance has a significant negative impact on mobility, functional independence, and fall risk in older adults. Although several, well-respected balance measures are currently in use, there is limited evidence regarding the most appropriate measure to assess change in community-dwelling older adults.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to compare floor and ceiling effects, sensitivity to change, and responsiveness across the following balance measures in community-dwelling elderly people with functional limitations: Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment total scale (POMA-T), POMA balance subscale (POMA-B), and Dynamic Gait Index (DGI).DesignRetrospective data from a 16-week exercise trial were used. Secondary analyses were conducted on the total sample and by subgroups of baseline functional limitation or baseline balance scores.MethodsParticipants were 111 community-dwelling older adults 65 years of age or older, with functional limitations. Sensitivity to change was assessed using effect size, standardized response mean, and paired t tests. Responsiveness was assessed using minimally important difference (MID) estimates.ResultsNo floor effects were noted. Ceiling effects were observed on all measures, including in people with moderate to severe functional limitations. The POMA-T, POMA-B, and DGI showed significantly larger ceiling effects compared with the BBS. All measures had low sensitivity to change in total sample analyses. Subgroup analyses revealed significantly better sensitivity to change in people with lower compared with higher baseline balance scores. Although both the total sample and lower baseline balance subgroups showed statistically significant improvement from baseline to 16 weeks on all measures, only the lower balance subgroup showed change scores that consistently exceeded corresponding MID estimates.LimitationsThis study was limited to comparing 4 measures of balance, and anchor-based methods for assessing MID could not be reported.ConclusionsImportant limitations, including ceiling effects and relatively low sensitivity to change and responsiveness, were noted across all balance measures, highlighting their limited utility across the full spectrum of the community-dwelling elderly population. New, more challenging measures are needed for better discrimination of balance ability in community-dwelling elderly people at higher functional levels.

Project description:Maintaining high levels of daily activity and physical capability have been proposed as important constituents to promote healthy brain and cognitive aging. Studies investigating the associations between brain health and physical activity in late life have, however, mainly been based on self-reported data or measures designed for clinical populations. In the current study, we examined cross-sectional associations between physical activity, recorded by an ankle-positioned accelerometer for seven days, physical capability (grip strength, postural control, and walking speed), and neuroimaging based surrogate markers of brain health in 122 healthy older adults aged 65-88 years. We used a multimodal brain imaging approach offering complementary structural MRI based indicators of brain health: global white matter fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) based on diffusion tensor imaging, and subcortical and global brain age based on brain morphology inferred from T1-weighted MRI data. In addition, based on the results from the main analysis, follow-up regression analysis was performed to test for association between the volume of key subcortical regions of interest (hippocampus, caudate, thalamus and cerebellum) and daily steps, and a follow-up voxelwise analysis to test for associations between walking speed and FA across the white matter Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) skeleton. The analyses revealed a significant association between global FA and walking speed, indicating higher white matter integrity in people with higher pace. Voxelwise analysis supported widespread significant associations. We also found a significant interaction between sex and subcortical brain age on number of daily steps, indicating younger-appearing brains in more physically active women, with no significant associations among men. These results provide insight into the intricate associations between different measures of brain and physical health in old age, and corroborate established public health advice promoting physical activity.

Dataset Information

Association Between Quantitative Gait and Balance Measures and Total Daily Physical Activity in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Association Between Quantitative Gait and Balance Measures and Total Daily Physical Activity in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets