Idiopathic senile gait disorders are signs of subclinical disease.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate survival and causes of death in subjects with idiopathic senile gait disorders.


METHODS
A population-based longitudinal study.


METHODS
Survival analysis of the oldest old within the Leiden 85-plus Study.


METHODS
We distinguished three different groups according to their gait: subjects with a normal gait (n = 25), subjects with senile gait disorders (n = 14), and subjects with gait disorders due to known disease (n = 87). The mean age was 90 years in all groups (range 87 to 97 years).


METHODS
The risk of all cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality was estimated over 5 years of follow-up in a Cox-proportional hazards model, adjusted for age and sex.


RESULTS
Eighty-nine of 126 subjects died during follow-up. Mean survival differed among the three groups (P log-rank = .01). All cause mortality risk was increased in subjects with senile gait disorders compared with subjects with a normal gait (RR = 2.8; 95% CI, 1.1-7.3, P = .03) and was similar to subjects with gait disorders caused by known disease (RR = 1.2; 95% CI: .6-2.5, P = .6). Mortality caused by cardiovascular disease also differed among the three groups (P log-rank = .03). The risk of cardiovascular death in subjects with senile gait disorders was twofold greater than in subjects with a normal gait (RR = 2.1; 95% CI, 0.4-10.3).


CONCLUSIONS
Senile gait disorders are related to subclinical, perhaps cardiovascular, disease. Senile gait disorders should not be accepted as an inevitable, benign concomitant of the normal aging process.
Bloem
B R
BR
Department of Neurology, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
Gussekloo
J
J
Lagaay
A M
AM
Remarque
E J
EJ
Haan
J
J
Westendorp
R G
RG
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000401:mortality*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016019:Survival Analysis