Six-month change in gait speed to discriminate between those with and without falls history in older people with Mild Cognitive Impairment and mild Alzheimer disease

Background and Purpose: The purposes of this study were to identify differences in gait speed performance over 6 months between older people with Preserved Cognition (PrC), with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and with Alzheimer disease (AD) in mild stage; and to verify if the change in gait speed could discriminate fallers in older people with MCI and AD in a mild stage Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted with community-dwelling older adults, including 40 with PrC, 36 with MCI and 34 with AD in the mild stage. Gait speed (in m/s) changes were captured through a 10-meter walk test. We documented the number of self-reported falls by monthly calendars that were returned after a 6-month follow-up. During this period, the participants received monthly telephone calls to remind them to fill in the calendar Results: There was a significant difference in terms of sex and age between the groups: 23%, 31% and 19% were female and had a mean age of 72.8, 75.9 and 76.9 years in the PrC, MCI and AD groups respectively. During the follow-up, 45%, 52.7% and 52.9% of the PrC, MCI and AD groups fell. The MCI and AD groups presented lower gait speed compared to the PrC Group at both moments. There was no significant difference in the change of gait speed between groups. In the model adjusted by age, the change in gait speed failed to discriminate fallers in older people with MCI and with AD Conclusion: Older people with MCI and AD in the mild stage present lower gait speed compared to older people with PrC. Changes in gait speed over a short period of time do not discriminate fallers in older people with MCI or AD in a mild stage. (c) 2022 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Automated summary

This study investigated the differences in gait speed performance over six months among older adults with Preserved Cognition (PrC), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the mild stage. It also examined whether changes in gait speed could discriminate fallers among older adults with MCI and AD. The results showed that older adults with MCI and AD had slower gait speed compared to those with PrC. However, changes in gait speed did not distinguish fallers among older adults with MCI or AD.