Association of Posture, Gait, and Auditory Functioning with Cognitive Status in a Cohort of Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Dongwook Kim,Emilija Kostic,Kiyoung Kwak

doi:10.3390/app11219970

Abstract

Postural stability, hearing, and gait function deterioration are the risk factors associated with cognitive impairment. Although no method has been reported for treating severe cognitive impairment to date, developing an early detection model based on these risk factors could aid in slowing down or even reversing the deterioration process. In this study, the association between cognitive impairment and the combined predictive ability of sensory and gait features was assessed. Fifty-seven healthy community-dwelling men over the age of sixty-five participated in cognitive, postural stability, auditory, and level walking evaluations. They were divided into two groups: healthy control group (n = 39) and lower cognition group (n = 18), based on their Montreal cognitive assessment score. During gait, the center of mass of the cognitively impaired participants was confined to a smaller volume. Furthermore, the cognitively healthy participants were found to have better postural stability. Both groups possessed similar hearing ability; however, the cognitively impaired group made a significantly higher number of errors when repeating words or sentences. A logistic regression model utilizing each of these function quantifiers exhibited a high area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, suggesting excellent predictive ability. These models can be applied to smartphone or smart home healthcare technologies to detect the possibility of cognitive impairment, thus facilitating early detection.

Highlights

According to reports from the World Health Organization, approximately 55 million people worldwide live with some form of dementia, and this number keeps growing, with approximately 10 million cases every year [1]
The results demonstrate that the mediolateral and anterior-posterior swaying when standing still were greater in the lower cognition (LC) participants than in the healthy control (HC) participants
The statistical analysis showed that participants with cognitive impairment have poor postural stability, which causes them to depend more on double limb support during level walking and contain their Center of mass (COM) to a smaller volume in space

Summary

Introduction

According to reports from the World Health Organization, approximately 55 million people worldwide live with some form of dementia, and this number keeps growing, with approximately 10 million cases every year [1]. MCI is an early stage of memory loss or other cognitive ability loss in individuals who maintain the ability to independently perform most activities of day-to-day life. A recent study has shown that a high percentage of elderly individuals with cognitive impairment consistent with dementia do not have reports of dementiarelated diagnoses [5]. This means that a high number of elderly never seek professional help or receive a diagnosis, perpetuating the need for more accessible diagnostic tools

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