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

Background:

Gait parameters such as gait speed (GS) are important indicators of functionalcapacity. Frailty Syndrome is closely related to GS and is also capable ofpredicting adverse outcomes. The cognitive demand of gait control is usuallyexplored with dual-task (DT) methodology.

Objective:

To investigate the effect of DT and frailty on the spatio-temporal parameters ofgait in older people and identify which variables relate to GS.

Method:

The presence of frailty was verified by Fried''s Frailty Criteria. Cognitivefunction was evaluated with the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) and gait parameterswere analyzed through the GAITRite^(r) system in the single-task and DTconditions. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov, ANOVA, and Pearson''s Correlation tests wereadministered.

Results:

The participants were assigned to the groups frail (FG), pre-frail (PFG), andnon-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 inthe 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 oldersubjects. The reduction in GS in the FG is associated with lower grip strength andlower scores in the MMSE. The GS was able to discriminate the older adults in thethree levels of frailty, being an important measure of the functional capacity inthis population.