β-amyloid deposition is associated with gait variability in usual aging.
Qu Tian, Woei-Nan Bair, Susan M Resnick and 3 others
PMID 29428714WHAT IT FOUND
In older adults without neurological disease, higher brain amyloid burden was associated with more variable walking speed, cadence, and gait cycle time independent of usual walking speed, mainly in men.
Mean gait measures were not associated.
Key findings
01Being PiB positive was associated with higher gait speed variability, cadence variability, and gait cycle time variability after adjustment for demographics and gait speed.
02A sex interaction was found, and the associations persisted in men but not in women.
03Trends for slower gait speed and shorter stride length in PiB positive participants were attenuated after adjustment for gait speed, and no significant associations remained for mean gait characteristics.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The analysis included 99 people, and the authors describe the sample size as modest. The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot show that amyloid burden causes gait variability or that gait variability causes amyloid burden. Participants came from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, which the authors say is healthier than the general population because of voluntary participation, so results may not generalize. Sex differences were exploratory, and the pattern was opposite to a previous report. Verbal memory adjustment attenuated the main associations, suggesting memory may be related to the observed relationship. Only selected temporal variability measures were associated, and mean gait characteristics were not significant after adjustment.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest. The paper lists NIH intramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read higher gait variability as a sign of Alzheimer’s disease or as a reason to start a treatment aimed at amyloid. This was a cross-sectional study of 99 people, the associations were mainly in men, and no intervention was tested.