Functional Fitness and Risk of Stroke in Elderly Korean Women

Abstract

Stroke is the second leading cause of death and disability in Korea. Physical activity and fitness is inversely related to stroke risk. Although functional fitness is emphasized in elderly for the prevention of disease and/or independence life, the relationship between functional fitness and stroke risk is poorly understood. PURPOSE: To examine the association between functional fitness and the risk of stroke in elderly women METHODS: The study participants were community dwelling Korean women (n=363) aged 65 years or older (70.6±4.3 years; body mass index (BMI)=24.8±3.2 kg/m2). All participants completed a basic medical examination and functional fitness testing of the Korea Institute of Sport Science Fitness project in 2015. The stroke risk was estimated using the Framingham risk score for probability of stroke using age, systolic blood pressure, antihypertensive therapy, diabetes mellitus, smoking, cardiovascular disease, atrial fibrillation and left ventricular hypertrophy by electrocardiogram. Each fitness test was grouped using quartiles and the stroke risk score of each fitness test was compared using ANOVA (p<.05) and Bonforroni as a Post-hoc test. RESULTS: The functional fitness levels were 475.5±106.8m for 6-minute walk (WALK), 43.3±11.4 for relative grip strength (GRIP), 17.3±5.5 for chair stand, 12.6±11.6cm for chair sit-and-reach, and 1.3±0.2 m/sec for 5-m gait speed (GAIT). The stroke risks were different in all fitness tests such as WALK (p<.0001), GRIP (p=.047), chair stand (p=.001), chair sit-and-reach (p<.001) and GAIT (p<.0001). There was an increase in stroke risk for the lowest fitness group compared with the highest group for WALK, GRIP, chair stand, chair sit-and-reach and GAIT. However, the inverse association between functional fitness level and stroke risk was not found after adjustment for age and BMI except WALK (p=.013). There was a reduction in stroke risk for the highest group (7.2±4.46) of WALK compared with the lowest group (13.7±9.13) in community dwelling elderly Korean women. CONCLUSION: Cardiorespiratory fitness among function fitness items was only associated with the reduced risk of stroke after adjustment for age and BMI in the study. Cardiorespiratory fitness might need to be emphasized in the prevention of stroke in community dwelling elderly women.