Influence of dual task and frailty on gait parameters of older community-dwelling individuals

Abstract

Background: Gait parameters such as gait speed (GS) are important indicators of functional capacity. Frailty Syndrome is closely related to GS and is also capable of predicting adverse outcomes. The cognitive demand of gait control is usually explored with dual-task (DT) methodology. Objective: To investigate the effect of DT and frailty on the spatio-temporal parameters of gait in older people and identify which variables relate to GS. Method: The presence of frailty was verified by Fried's Frailty Criteria. Cognitive function was evaluated with the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) and gait parameters were analyzed through the GAITRite(r) system in the single-task and DT conditions. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov, ANOVA, and Pearson's Correlation tests were administered. Results: The participants were assigned to the groups frail (FG), pre-frail (PFG), and non-frail (NFG). During the DT, the three groups showed a decrease in GS, cadence, and stride length and an increase in stride time (p<0.001). The reduction in the GS of the FG during the DT showed a positive correlation with the MMSE scores (r=730; p=0.001) and with grip strength (r=681; p=0.001). Conclusions: Gait parameters are more affected by the DT, especially in the frail older subjects. The reduction in GS in the FG is associated with lower grip strength and lower scores in the MMSE. The GS was able to discriminate the older adults in the three levels of frailty, being an important measure of the functional capacity in this population.

Spatial and temporal gait characteristics in pre‐frail community‐dwelling older adults

“…The same authors also discovered an association between reduced speed and lower educational level, differing from the results of the present study, in which the participants had high average speed and a relatively low educational level (less than 5 years of study). In a study by Guedes et al ., the gait speed of older people classified as pre‐frail was similar to the present results …”

“…As for cadence and stride time, no difference was found between the groups. Similar results were noted in a study by Guedes et al ., in which there were no differences in cadence and stride time between pre‐frail and non‐frail older people . Significant differences only arose in relation to older people classified as frail.…”

“…A number of studies have explored possible relationships, behavior, and meanings of spatial and temporal gait variables in frail and pre‐frail older adults . These studies have presented gait assessment as an effective tool for identifying frail older adults.…”

Fear of falling and activities of daily living function: mediation effect of dual-task ability

“…For example, in everyday life, people may walk and talk at the same time while carrying an object or moving from one location to another and simultaneously monitoring the environment. Thus, dual-task ability may be representative of actual daily situations, due to the ecological need in the performance of ADL (Guedes, Dias, Pereira, Silva, Lustosa, & Dias, 2014). According to this interpretation, we believe that in these situations, the ability to manage different tasks and, in particular, dual-task ability is essential not to decrease the performance in the ADL.…”

333 Slow gait speed and rapid renal function decline are risk factors for postoperative delirium after urological surgery

“…[2] Therefore, gait speed is an important indicator of functional capacity and general frailty, [13] and it is positively correlated with cognitive frailty in elderly patients. [2,27,28] Based on these findings, we employed the timed Get-up and Go test as a predictor for frailty syndrome that could evaluate both gait speed and complex maneuvers. As expected, the results The AUC values were 0.89 in age, 0.87 in Get-up and Go test, and 0.79 in fall risk assessment score.…”