TY - JOUR
PY - 2016//
TI - An evaluation of the longitudinal, bidirectional associations between gait speed and cognition in older women and men
JO - Journals of gerontology. Series A: Biological sciences and medical sciences
A1 - Best, John R.
A1 - Liu-Ambrose, Teresa
A1 - Boudreau, Robert M.
A1 - Ayonayon, Hilsa N.
A1 - Satterfield, Suzanne
A1 - Simonsick, Eleanor M.
A1 - Studenski, Stephanie
A1 - Yaffe, Kristine
A1 - Newman, Anne B.
A1 - Rosano, Caterina
SP - 1616
EP - 1623
VL - 71
IS - 12
N2 - BACKGROUND: Few cohort studies have examined longitudinal associations between age-related changes in cognition and physical performance. Further, whether these associations differ for men versus women or can be attributed to differences in physical activity (PA) is unknown.
METHODS: Participants were 2,876 initially well-functioning community-dwelling older adults (aged 70-79 years at baseline; 52% female; 39% black) studied over a 9-year period. Usual gait speed, self-reported PA, and two cognitive measures-Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) and Mini-Modified Mental State examination (3MS)-were assessed years 0 (ie, baseline), 4, and 9.
RESULTS: Early decline between years 0 and 4 in gait speed predicted later decline between years 4 and 9 in performance on the 3MS (β = 0.10, p =.004) and on the DSST (β = 0.16, p <.001). In contrast, the associations between early decline in cognition and later decline in gait speed were weaker and were non-significant after correcting for multiple comparisons (β = 0.08, p =.019 for 3MS and β =.06, p =.051 for DSST). All associations were similar for women and men and were unaltered when accounting for PA levels.
CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate declining gait speed as a precursor to declining cognitive functioning, and suggest a weaker reciprocal process among older women and men.
© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 1079-5006 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glw066 ID - ref1 ER -