@article{ref1,
title="Mobility of older adults: gait quality measures are associated with life-space assessment scores",
journal="Journals of gerontology. Series A: Biological sciences and medical sciences",
year="2021",
author="Suri, Anisha and Rosso, Andrea L. and VanSwearingen, Jessie and Coffman, Leslie M. and Redfern, Mark S. and Brach, Jennifer Sokol and Sejdić, Ervin",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: The relation of gait quality to real-life mobility among older adults is poorly understood. This study examined the association between gait quality, consisting of step variability, smoothness, regularity, symmetry and gait speed with the Life-Space Assessment (LSA). <br><br>METHODS: In community-dwelling older adults (N=232, age 77.5±6.6, 65% females), gait quality was derived from: a) an instrumented walkway: gait speed, variability and walk-ratio; and b) accelerometer: signal variability, smoothness, regularity, symmetry, and time-frequency spatiotemporal variables during 6-minute walk. In addition to collecting LSA scores, cognitive functioning, walking-confidence, and falls were recorded. Spearman correlations (speed as covariate) and Random Forest Regression were used to assess associations between gait quality and LSA, and Gaussian-mixture modeling (GMM) was used to cluster participants. <br><br>RESULTS: Spearman correlations of ρp=0.11 (signal amplitude variability ML), ρp=0.15, ρp=-0.13 (symmetry AP-V, ML-AP), ρp=0.16 (power V) and ρ=0.26 (speed), all p<0.05 and marginally related, ρp=-0.12 (regularity V), ρp=0.11 (smoothness AP) and ρp=-0.11 (step-time variability), p<0.1 were obtained. The cross-validated Random Forest model indicated good fit LSA prediction error of 17.77; gait and cognition were greater contributors than age and gender. GMM indicated two clusters. Group-1(N=189) had better gait quality than Group-2(N=43): greater smoothness AP (2.94±0.75 vs 2.30±0.71); greater similarity AP-V (0.58±0.13 vs 0.40±0.19); lower regularity V (0.83±0.08 vs 0.87±0.10); greater power V (1.86±0.18 vs 0.97±1.84); greater speed (1.09±0.16 vs 1.00±0.16 m/s); lower step time CoV (3.70±1.09 vs 5.09±2.37) and better LSA (76±18 vs 67±18), padjusted<0.004. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Gait quality measures taken in the clinic are associated with real-life mobility in the community.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1079-5006",
doi="10.1093/gerona/glab151",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glab151"
}