Abstract
People with dementia are at risk of mobility decline. In this study, we measured changes in quantitative gait measures over a maximum 10-week period during the course of a psychogeriatric admission in older adults with dementia, with the aims to describe mobility changes over the duration of the admission, and to determine which factors were associated with this change. Fifty-four individuals admitted to a specialized dementia inpatient unit participated in this study. A vision-based markerless motion capture system was used to record participants’ natural gait. Mixed effect models were developed with gait measures as the dependent variables and clinical and demographic variables as predictors. We found that gait stability, step time, and step length decreased, and step time variability and step length variability increased over 10 weeks. Gait stability of men decreased more than that of women, associated with an increased sacrum mediolateral range of motion over time. In addition, the sacrum mediolateral range of motion decreased in those with mild neuropsychiatric symptoms over 10 weeks, but increased in those with more severe neuropsychiatric symptoms. Our study provides evidence of worsening of gait mechanics and control over the course of a hospitalization in older adults with dementia. Quantitative gait monitoring in hospital environments may provide opportunities to intervene to prevent adverse events, decelerate mobility decline, and monitor rehabilitation outcomes.
Highlights
ObjectivesThe aims of this study were, to i) describe changes in quantitative gait measures over 10 weeks in hospitalized older adults with advanced dementia and behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), and ii) determine which demographic and clinical factors were associated with gait changes over 10 weeks
Older adults with dementia have a higher frequency of hospitalization, and longer lengths of hospital stay compared to seniors without dementia [1]
Recent advances in markerless motion capture technology allow for longitudinal, unobtrusive, and frequent daily-life assessment of gait over time. Using such a vision-based system, we recently demonstrated that impaired gait stability over a baseline period of two weeks is associated with future falls in a cohort of older adults with dementia with behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) admitted to a specialized dementia unit [12, 13]
Summary
The aims of this study were, to i) describe changes in quantitative gait measures over 10 weeks in hospitalized older adults with advanced dementia and BPSD, and ii) determine which demographic and clinical factors were associated with gait changes over 10 weeks
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