Gait speed significantly affects functional status and health outcomes in older adults. This cross-sectional study evaluated cognitive and physical fitness contributors to usual and peak gait speed in persons with Alzheimer's dementia. Multiple hierarchal linear regression was used to obtain squared semipartial correlation coefficients (sr2) and effect sizes (Cohen's ƒ2). Participants (n = 90; 56% male) averaged 77.1 ± 6.6 years of age and 21.8 ± 3.4 on Mini-Mental State Examination. Demographic/clinical, physical fitness, and cognition variables explained 45% and 39% of variance in usual and peak gait speed, respectively. Muscle strength was the only significant contributor to both usual (sr2 = .175; Cohen's ƒ2 = 0.31; p < .001) and peak gait speed (sr2 = .11; Cohen's ƒ2 = 0.18; p < .001). Women who were "slow" walkers (usual gait speed <1.0 m/s) had significantly lower cardiorespiratory fitness and executive functioning compared with "fast" walkers. In conclusion, improving muscle strength may modify gait and downstream health outcomes in Alzheimer's dementia.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/japa.2022-0313 | DOI Listing |
J Appl Gerontol
January 2025
Joan and Stanford Alexander Division of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
Social technology in older adults can improve self-rated health; however, there can also be difficulties using it. Our study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptance of virtual assistant device (VAD) use in cognitively impaired homebound older adults. 52 newly referred Meals on Wheels clients aged 60 and older were recruited for a three-phase study: 6 weeks of meals alone (control), followed by 6 weeks of meals+Alexa Echo Show 8 (AES8) basic usage, and lastly 6 weeks of meals+AES8 advanced usage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Phys Med Rehabil
January 2025
"i+HeALTH" Strategic Research Group, Department of Health Sciences, Miguel de Cervantes European University (UEMC), Valladolid, Spain.
Objective: This study aimed to analyze the effect of a novel supervised exercise therapy (SET) program based on intermittent treadmill walking and circuit-based moderate-intensity functional training (MIFT) on walking performance and HRQoL in PAD patients.
Design: All participants underwent a 12-week SET that involved 15 to 30 minutes of treadmill walking followed by a 15-minute moderate-intensity functional training (MIFT) continued by 12-week of follow-up. Maximum walking distance (MWD), pain-free walking distance (PFWD), gait speed and estimated peak oxygen uptake (peak VO2) were calculated through the 6-minute walk test (6-MWT) and HRQoL through the Short Form-36 (SF-36) and the Vascular Quality of Life Questionnaire-6 (VascuQol-6).
Healthcare (Basel)
December 2024
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University, Tokushima 770-8509, Japan.
This study aimed to determine the association between chronic schizophrenia, extrapyramidal symptoms (EPSs), body composition, nutritional status, and dynapenia/sarcopenia. Data from 68 chronic patients with schizophrenia were analyzed using Spearman's rho correlation coefficients, Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Cramér's V statistics. Among the participants, 32.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFScand J Med Sci Sports
January 2025
Faculty of Medicine, Health, and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Measuring lower extremity impact acceleration is a common strategy to identify runners with increased injury risk. However, existing axial peak tibial acceleration (PTA) thresholds for determining high-impact runners typically rely on small samples or fixed running speeds. This study aimed to describe the distribution of axial PTA among runners at their preferred running speed, determine an appropriate adjustment for investigating impact magnitude at different speeds, and compare biomechanics between runners classified by impact magnitude.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle
February 2025
Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable (CIBERFES), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
Background: Despite muscle power derived from the 5-rep sit-to-stand (STS) test having been demonstrated to be a valuable biomarker in older individuals, there is limited information regarding muscle power derived from the 30-s STS test, a widely used test in the clinical setting. This study aimed (i) to compare relative 30-s STS power values between older men and women, (ii) to identify cut-off points for low relative 30-s STS power, (iii) to compare the prevalence of low relative STS power between sexes and (iv) to evaluate the association of low relative 30-s STS power with adverse conditions in older people.
Methods: A total of 1475 community-dwelling older adults (65-98 years; 45% men) from the Toledo Study for Healthy Aging were included.
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