title: Polyunsaturated fatty acids in relation to incident mobility disability and decline in gait speed; the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Low intake of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are associated with physical disability; however, prospective studies of circulating PUFAs are scarce. We examined associations between plasma phospholipid n-3 and n-6 PUFAs with risk of incident mobility disability and gait speed decline.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data are from a subgroup of the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study, a population-based study of risk factors for disease and disability in old age. In this subgroup (n = 556, mean age 75.1 ± 5.0 years, 47.5% men), plasma phospholipid PUFAs were assessed at baseline using gas chromatography. Mobility disability and usual gait speed were assessed at baseline and after 5.2 ± 0.2 years. Mobility disability was defined as the following: having much difficulty, or being unable to walk 500 m or climb up 10 steps; decline in gait speed was defined as change ⩾ 0.10 m/s. Logistic regression analyses were performed to determine associations between sex-specific s.d. increments in PUFAs with risk of incident mobility disability and gait speed decline. Odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) adjusted for demographics, follow-up time, risk factors and serum vitamin D were reported.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In women, but not men, every s.d. increment increase of total n-3 PUFAs and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was associated with lower mobility disability risk, odds ratio 0.48 (0.25; 0.93) and odds ratio 0.45 (0.24; 0.83), respectively. There was no association between n-6 PUFAs and the risk of incident mobility disability or gait speed decline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Higher concentrations of n-3 PUFAs and, particularly, DHA may protect women from impaired mobility but does not appear to have such an effect in men.
authors.affiliation: 1] Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA [2] Department of Health Sciences and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU UniversityAmsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Reinders
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Biomarker Laboratory, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Health Sciences and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU UniversityAmsterdam, The Netherlands [2] Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Internal Medicine, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Visser
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Cotch
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Launer
authors.affiliation: Icelandic Heart Association Research Institute, Kopavogur, Iceland.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Siggeirsdottir
authors.affiliation: Icelandic Heart Association Research Institute, Kopavogur, Iceland.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Eiriksdottir
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, Landspitali National University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.
authors.forename: P V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Jonsson
authors.affiliation: 1] Icelandic Heart Association Research Institute, Kopavogur, Iceland [2] Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gudnason
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: T B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU UniversityAmsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Brouwer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004777:Environment; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000097:blood*; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6 / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D051346:Mobility Limitation; D009043:Motor Activity; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055105:Waist Circumference
chemical_list: D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6