Association between low gait speed and cognition decline in older nursing home residents

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundThe gait speed represented the core determinant of physical function, which is reported to associated with cognitive decline. This study examined the association between gait speed and cognitive function in elderly nursing home residents.MethodWe conducted a cross‐sectional study in seven nursing homes in Western China. The cognitive states were measured by MMSE. The gait speed was measured via a 4m walking test, and appendicular muscle mass was estimated according to a previously validated anthropometric equation. Handgrip strength was measured with a handheld dynamometer. Dementia was defined as MMSE lower than 23. The cut‐off of the gait speed, appendicular muscle mass, handgrip strength was based on the sex‐specific 20% lowest percentile of the study population.ResultFour hundred and ten participants were included. Two hundred and twenty‐three participants (54.39%) were identified as dementia. Compared with the subjects without dementia, the dementia subjects were more likely to have lower gait speed and grip strength (See Table 1).As indicated in Table 2, compared with the normal gait speed subjects, low gait speed subjects exhibited an increased risk factor of dementia (OR: 3.75, 95% CI: 2.09‐6.72) in the unadjusted model. After adjusting for age, sex, education and other confounder, the low gait speed was an independent risk factor of dementia (OR: 2.71, 95% CI: 1.47‐5.00).ConclusionThis study founded that low gait speed was significantly associated with dementia in older adults in nursing home. Screening for slow gait speed may be useful for identifying older nursing home residents at risk of cognition decline.