Slow Gait Speed at Midlife May Be Predictor of Accelerated Aging

By Kelly Young

Edited by David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH, and Jaye Elizabeth Hefner, MD

A person's gait speed at midlife is associated with physical and biological indicators of accelerated aging, suggests a JAMA Network Open study.

Roughly 900 people in New Zealand who had been followed since birth underwent gait speed tests, brain imaging, and cognitive tests at age 45.

Slower gate speed was associated with the following at age 45:

• More self-reported physical limitations

• Faster aging, as measured by 19 biomarkers, including BMI and cardiorespiratory fitness

• Accelerated facial aging, based on reviewers' assessment of facial photographs

• Smaller total brain volume, thinner meaner cortex, smaller total brain surface area

In addition, a person's cognitive skills (e.g., picture vocabulary, receptive language skills, motor skills, and lack of control) at age 3 were associated with midlife gait speed.

The authors conclude: "Gait speed is more than just a geriatric index of adult functional decline; rather, it is a summary index of lifelong aging with possible origins in childhood CNS deficits. This helps to explain why gait can be such a powerful indicator of risk of disability and death in the elderly."