The association between gait speed and depressive disorders - A cross-sectional analysis of very old adults in the 21st century.

Objectives: To investigate the association between gait speed and depressive disorders among very old adults (≥85 years).

Method: This study utilized the GERDA-database, which encompasses a representative sample of those aged 85, 90, and 95+ years residing in northern Sweden and western Finland. From four data collections between 2000 and 2017, this study included 1794 participants.

A core capability framework for physiotherapists to deliver quality care when working with people living with dementia and their families/caregivers: an international modified e-Delphi study.

Objective: What are the core capabilities physiotherapists need to deliver quality care when working with people with dementia and their families/caregivers?

Design: A three-round modified e-Delphi study.

Participants: Panel members were physiotherapists experienced in working with people with dementia and/or educating and/or researching in the dementia field.

Methods: A steering group (16 international physiotherapists and a consumer) developed a draft framework including 129 core capabilities across 5 domains for panel members to rate their appropriateness for inclusion as a core capability to provide high quality care to people with dementia and their caregivers/families.

Feasibility of a person-centred multidimensional interdisciplinary rehabilitation programme in community-dwelling people with dementia: a randomised controlled pilot trial.

Background: A team-based, individualised rehabilitation approach may be required to meet the complex needs of people with dementia. This randomised controlled pilot trial evaluated the feasibility of a person-centred multidimensional interdisciplinary rehabilitation programme for community-dwelling older people with dementia and their informal primary caregivers.

Methods: Participants with dementia were randomised to an intervention group (n = 31, mean age (SD) 78.

Preferences for an eHealth tool to support physical activity and exercise training in COPD: a qualitative study from the viewpoint of prospective users.

Background: Despite well-known positive effects of pulmonary rehabilitation, access is limited. New strategies to improve access are advocated, including the use of eHealth tools.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore prospective users' preferences for an eHealth tool to support the self-management of physical activity and exercise training in COPD.

Backward relative to forward walking speed and falls in older adults with dementia.

Background: Adults with dementia have a high risk of falls and fall-related injuries. A greater slowing of backward walking speed (BWS) relative to forward (FWS) has been indicated with older age, and slower BWS has been related to an increased risk of falls. Similarly, slow BWS relative to FWS has been observed in people with dementia.

Physical Activity in Late Middle- to Older-Aged People and Dementia, Cognitive, and Physical Function Two Decades Later.

Introduction: Low physical activity (PA) is a potential risk factor for dementia and cognitive impairment. However, few studies have focused on very old people (aged ≥80 years), the age group with highest prevalence of dementia. The aim was to investigate if PA associated with subsequent dementia, cognitive function, and gait speed (GS), in very old people.

Participatory methods in a digital setting: experiences from the co-creation of an eHealth tool for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Using participatory methods to engage end-users in the development and design of eHealth is important to understand and incorporate their needs and context. Within participatory research, recent social distancing practice has forced a transition to digital communication platforms, a setting that warrants deeper understanding. The aim of this study was to describe the experiences of, and evaluate a digital co-creation process for developing an eHealth tool for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Concurrent validity of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire adapted for adults aged ≥ 80 years (IPAQ-E 80 +) - tested with accelerometer data from the SilverMONICA study.

Background: Physical activity and sedentary behavior vary across the life span, and in very old people activity behavior can vary considerably over 24 h. A physical activity questionnaire adapted for this age group is lacking. This study was conducted to validate such a newly developed questionnaire suitable for use in very old people.

Cognitive Domain Associations with Balance Performance in Community-Dwelling Older People with Cognitive Impairment.

Background: In older people with cognitive impairment (CI), executive function (EF) has been associated with motor performance including balance and gait. The literature examining and supporting a relationship between balance performance and other cognitive domains is limited.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between global cognition and cognitive domain function and balance performance in older people with CI.

Exercise effects on backward walking speed in people with dementia: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Multidirectional walking, including backward walking, is integral to daily activities, and seems particularly challenging in older age, and in people with pathology affecting postural control such as dementia.

Research Question: Does exercise influence backward walking speed in people with dementia, when tested using habitual walking aids and without, and do effects differ according to walking aid use?

Methods: This study included 141 women and 45 men (mean age 85 years) with dementia from the Umeå Dementia and Exercise (UMDEX), a cluster-randomized controlled trial study set in 16 nursing homes in Umeå, Sweden. Participants were randomized to a High-Intensity Functional Exercise (HIFE) program targeting lower limb strength-, balance and mobility exercise or to a seated attention control activity.

Low or Declining Gait Speed is Associated With Risk of Developing Dementia Over 5 Years Among People Aged 85 Years and Over.

Improving dementia screening procedures beyond simple assessment of current cognitive performance is timely given the ongoing phenomenon of population aging. A slow or declining gait speed (GS) is a potential early indicator of cognitive decline scarcely investigated in very old people. Here, we investigated the 5-year associations of baseline GS, change in GS, and cognitive function with subsequent dementia development in people aged 85 years and older (n = 296) without dementia at baseline.

The association between cognition and gait in a representative sample of very old people - the influence of dementia and walking aid use.

Background: Cognition has been related with gait speed in older adults; however, studies involving the oldest age group, where many have mobility disability and cognitive impairment, are few. The aim was to investigate the association between global cognitive function and gait speed in a representative sample of very old people, and whether the association was affected by dementia, and walking aid use.

Method: This cross-sectional study included 1317 participants, mean age 89.

Associations Between Gait Speed and Cognitive Domains in Older People with Cognitive Impairment.

Background: While gait has been linked with cognition, few studies have contrasted the strength of the relationships between gait speed and cognitive domains in people with cognitive impairment (CI).

Objectives: Investigate the association between gait speed and global cognitive function and cognitive domains in older people with CI.

Method: Three-hundred-and-nine community-dwelling people with CI (mean age 82 years, 47% female, and mean gait speed 0.

The Effects of Exercise on Falls in Older People With Dementia Living in Nursing Homes: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: To investigate exercise effects on falls in people with dementia living in nursing homes, and whether effects were dependent on sex, dementia type, or improvement in balance. A further aim was to describe the occurrence of fall-related injuries.

Design: A cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Systolic blood pressure decline in very old individuals is explained by deteriorating health: Longitudinal changes from Umeå85+/GERDA.

Declining systolic blood pressure (SBP) is common in very old age and is associated with adverse events, such as dementia. Knowledge of factors associated with SBP changes could explain the etiology of this decline in SBP. This study investigated longitudinal changes in socioeconomic factors, medical conditions, drug prescriptions, and assessments and their associations with SBP changes among very old followed individuals.

Cognitive function and walking velocity in people with dementia; a comparison of backward and forward walking.

How forward and backward walking, both central to everyday life, relate to cognition are relatively unexplored in people with dementia. This study aimed to investigate if forward and backward walking velocity respectively, associated with global cognition and executive function in people with dementia, and whether the association differed according to walking aid use or dementia type. Using a cross-sectional design, 161 participants (77% women), a mean Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of 15, and mean age of 85.

Effects of Exercise on Cognitive Function in Older People with Dementia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Although physical exercise has been suggested to influence cognitive function, previous exercise studies show inconsistent results in people with dementia.

Objectives: To investigate effects of exercise on cognitive function in people with dementia.

Method: The Umeå Dementia and Exercise (UMDEX) study, a cluster-randomized controlled trial, was set in 16 nursing homes in Umeå, Sweden.

Bisphosphonate Use After Hip Fracture in Older Adults: A Nationwide Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between bisphosphonate use and the risk of new fracture in a nationwide cohort of individuals with previous hip fractures, with emphasis on individuals above 80 years of age.

Design, Setting, And Participants: From a nationwide cohort with hip fracture (2006-2012) (n = 93, 601), each individual prescribed bisphosphonates after hip fracture (n = 5845) was matched with up to three individuals not prescribed bisphosphonates, resulting in a cohort of 21,363 individuals.

Main Outcome Measure: A new hip fracture.

Walking Aids Moderate Exercise Effects on Gait Speed in People With Dementia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: To investigate the effects of exercise on gait speed, when tested using walking aids and without, and whether effects differed according to amount of support in the test.

Design: A cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Setting: The Umeå Dementia and Exercise (UMDEX) study was set in 16 nursing homes in Umeå, Sweden.

Effects of a High-Intensity Functional Exercise Program on Dependence in Activities of Daily Living and Balance in Older Adults with Dementia.

Objectives: To investigate the effects of a high-intensity functional exercise program on independence in activities of daily living (ADLs) and balance in older people with dementia and whether exercise effects differed between dementia types.

Design: Cluster-randomized controlled trial: Umeå Dementia and Exercise (UMDEX) study.

Setting: Residential care facilities, Umeå, Sweden.

Blood pressure, gait speed, and mortality in very old individuals: a population-based cohort study.

Objectives: Clinical trials and observational studies have produced contradictory results regarding the association of blood pressure (BP) and mortality in people aged 80 years or older. Gait speed at usual pace has been shown to moderate this association in a population of noninstitutionalized people aged 65 years or older. The aims of this study were to investigate the association of BP with all-cause mortality in a representative sample of people aged 85 years or older and to assess whether gait speed moderates this association.

Usual gait speed independently predicts mortality in very old people: a population-based study.

Objectives: In older people, usual gait speed has been shown to independently predict mortality; however, less is known about whether usual gait speed is as informative in very old populations, in which prevalence of multimorbidity and disability is high. The aim of this study was to investigate if usual gait speed can independently predict all-cause mortality in very old people, and whether the prediction is influenced by dementia disorder, dependency in activities of daily living (ADL), or use of walking aids in the gait speed test.

Design: Prospective cohort study.