Long-term living in unfavorable socioeconomic conditions impairs late-life gait performance.

Abstract

BackgroundLow socioeconomic status has been associated with individual health-related problems; however, no study has specifically investigated the impact of socioeconomic disparities on gait performance using an index that considers the population aggregation, as the Human Development Index (HDI). Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess gait parameters of older people living in cities with differences in socioeconomic conditions, identified by HDI. MethodsCross-sectional design study conducted with a sample of 233 older people from two Brazilians regions: Coari, state of Amazonas, Brazil (n= 124, low-HDI-Bra) and Ribeirão Preto, state of São Paulo, Brazil (n= 109, very high-HDI-Bra). The gait performance was assessed by an electronic walkway, and the interest variables were gait speed, cadence, stride time, step length and stride width. ResultsLow-HDI-Bra group presented worse gait performance as identified by slower gait speed (p = < .001), slower cadence (p = < .001), higher stride time (p = < .001), shorter step length (p = < .001), compared with the very high-HDI-Bra group. There was a positive association between HDI, and gait spend, cadence and step length, and there was a negative association between HDI and stride time and stride width. ConclusionsLong-term exposure to socioeconomic inequalities found in low HDI cities may impair gait performance in late life. Such information may be relevant to create public politics that use the gait parameter based on the region where the people live.