title: Cognitive status, fast walking speed and walking speed reserve-the Gait and Alzheimer Interactions Tracking (GAIT) study.
abstract: The aims of this study were to (1) determine if older people at their fast walking speed (FWS) are able to reach the speed required at pedestrian crossings (>1.2 m/s) and (2) determine the role of cognitive impairment on the ability to alter speed and walk quickly. Participants were recruited from the Angers Memory Clinic, France. Gait speed was assessed at preferred and FWS using a GAITRite walkway. Walking speed reserve (WSR) was calculated as the difference between FWS and preferred speeds. Participants were classified into cognitive stages (cognitively healthy, mild cognitive impairment, mild and moderate dementia) based on neuropsychological evaluations. The proportion of participants with a FWS of <1.2 m/s was reported. The association between cognitive stage and preferred, fast and walking speed reserve was assessed using multivariable regression, adjusting for covariates. The mean age of the sample (n = 681) was 73.3 (SD 5.8) years. At preferred speed 73.7%, and at FWS 12.8%, of participants had speeds less than 1.2 m/s. Poorer cognitive stage was associated with slower preferred speed (β -0.08, 95% CI -0.10, -0.06), FWS (β -0.13, 95% CI -0.16, -0.10) and also with smaller WSR (m/s) (β -0.05, 95% CI -0.07, -0.03), but not WSR (%) (β -1.73, 95% CI -4.38, 0.93). In older people, worse stages of cognitive impairment were associated with poorer ability to increase speed and walk quickly. Such limitations may result in reduced ability to access the community.
authors.affiliation: Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, 17 Liverpool Street, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. michele.callisaya@utas.edu.au.|Stroke and Ageing Research Group, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University, Clayton, Australia. michele.callisaya@utas.edu.au.
authors.forename: Michele L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Callisaya
authors.affiliation: Service of Geriatric Medicine and Geriatric Rehabilitation, Department of Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Cyrille P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Launay
authors.affiliation: Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, 17 Liverpool Street, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.|Stroke and Ageing Research Group, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University, Clayton, Australia.|Medicine, Peninsula Health, Peninsula Clinical School, Central Clinical School, Frankston, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Velandai K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Srikanth
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Joe
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Verghese
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA.|Division of Neurology and Department of Medicine, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Allali
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Beauchet
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000072797:Walking Speed / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Cognition; Dementia; Fast walking speed; Gait