Mobility is the most studied and most relevant physical ability affecting quality of life with strong prognostic value for disability and survival. Natural selection has built the "engine" of ...mobility with great robustness, redundancy, and functional reserve. Efficient patterns of mobility can be acquired during development even by children affected by severe impairments. Analogously, age-associated impairments in mobility-related physiological systems are compensated and overt limitations of mobility only occur when the severity can no longer be compensated. Mobility loss in older persons usually results from multiple impairments in the central nervous system, muscles, joints, and energetic and sensory physiological systems. Early preclinical changes in these physiological systems that precede mobility loss have been poorly studied. Peak performance, rate of decline, compensatory behaviors, or subclinical deterioration of physiological resources may cumulatively influence both timing of mobility loss and chances of recovery, but their role as risk factors has not been adequately characterized. Understanding the natural history of these early changes and intervening on them would likely be the most effective strategy to reduce the burden of disability in the population. For example, young women with low bone peak mass could be counseled to start strength resistance exercise to reduce their high risk of developing osteoporosis and fracture later in life. Expanding this approach to other physiological domains requires collecting and interpreting data from life course epidemiological studies, establishing normative measures of mobility, physical function, and physical activity, and connecting them with life course trajectories of the mobility-relevant physiological domains.
Background
Evidence has begun to emerge indicating that cancer survivors experience accelerated aging. This study examines this phenomenon by evaluating trajectories of functional decline in older ...adults with a history of a cancer diagnosis relative to those without a history of cancer.
Methods
Community dwelling healthy volunteers in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging were evaluated in the Clinical Research Unit of the National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program. Between 2006 and 2019, 1728 men and women (aged 22–100) underwent clinical evaluation of functional status; 359 reported having a history of cancer. Longitudinal associations between self‐reported cancer history and measures of functional decline were examined using generalized estimating equations. Additionally, time‐to‐event and Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine trajectories of decline. Where appropriate, age‐stratified associations were examined, and models were adjusted for sex, body mass index, race, smoking status, education, and number of comorbid conditions.
Results
Among all participants, a history of cancer was associated with 1.42 (95% CI 1.11–1.81) greater odds of weak grip strength. Among older participants (>65 years of age), those with a history of cancer had 1.61 (95% CI 1.28, 2.02) greater odds of slow gait speed and a 0.11 unit (95% CI 0.19–0.03) lower physical performance score than those with no cancer history. Time‐to‐event analysis showed that older individuals with a history of cancer experienced steeper decline in grip strength and gait speed than older adults with no history of cancer (p < 0.01).
Conclusion
Cancer survivors, especially older individuals, demonstrate greater odds of and accelerated functional decline, suggesting that cancer and/or its treatment may alter aging trajectories. Observational and intervention studies are needed for prevention, mitigation, and/or reversal of aging‐related effects of cancer and its treatment.
See related editorial by Sedrak et al.
IMPORTANCE: Depression has been identified as a risk factor for dementia. However, most studies have measured depressive symptoms at only one time point, and older adults may show different patterns ...of depressive symptoms over time. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between trajectories of depressive symptoms and risk of dementia in older adults. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This was a prospective cohort investigation of black and white community-dwelling older adults in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study. Participants were enrolled between May 1997 and June 1998 and followed up through 2001-2002. The dates of this analysis were September 2014 to December 2015. The setting was community research centers in Memphis, Tennessee, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Trajectories of depressive symptoms were assessed from baseline to year 5. Symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Short Form, and trajectories were calculated using latent class growth curve analysis. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Incident dementia through year 11, determined by dementia medication use, hospital records, or significant cognitive decline (≥1.5 SD race-specific decline on the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination). We examined the association between depressive symptom trajectories and dementia incidence using Cox proportional hazards regression models adjusted for demographics, health factors that differed between groups, and cognition during the depressive symptom assessment period (baseline to year 5). RESULTS: The analytic cohort included 2488 black and white older adults with repeated depressive symptom assessments from baseline to year 5 who were free of dementia throughout that period. Their mean (SD) age at baseline was 74.0 (2.8) years, and 53.1% (n = 1322) were female. The following 3 depressive symptom trajectories were identified: consistently minimal symptoms (62.0% n = 1542 of participants), moderate and increasing symptoms (32.2% n = 801 of participants), and high and increasing symptoms (5.8% n = 145 of participants). Compared with the consistently minimal trajectory, having a high and increasing depressive symptom trajectory was associated with significantly increased risk of dementia (fully adjusted hazard ratio, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.30-2.90), while the moderate and increasing trajectory was not associated with risk of dementia after full adjustment. Sensitivity analyses indicated that the high and increasing trajectory was associated with dementia incidence, while depressive symptoms at individual time points were not. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Older adults with a longitudinal pattern of high and increasing depressive symptoms are at high risk for dementia. Individuals’ trajectory of depressive symptoms may inform dementia risk more accurately than one-time assessment of depressive symptoms.
Time and the Metrics of Aging Ferrucci, Luigi; Levine, Morgan E; Kuo, Pei-Lun ...
Circulation research,
2018-September-14, Letnik:
123, Številka:
7
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The study of aging relates to changes in physical and functional dimensions that occur over time in living organisms. Yet, a model that establishes the
hierarchical relationship
and
interlaced time ...courses
of molecular, phenotypic, and functional hierarchical domains of aging in humans has not been established. We propose that studying the mechanisms and consequences of aging through the lens of these hierarchical domains and their connections will provide clarity in semantics and enhance a translational perspective. The study of human aging would be most informative from a life course, longitudinal perspective, given that manifestations of aging are already detectable early in life at the molecular level, yet the phenotypic responses remain masked by compensatory/resiliency mechanisms. Understanding the nature of these mechanisms is paramount for developing interventions that reduce the burden of disease and disability in older persons.
Age-related peripheral hearing impairment (HI) is prevalent, treatable, and may be a risk factor for dementia in older adults. In prospective analysis, we quantified the association of HI with ...incident dementia and with domain-specific cognitive decline in memory, perceptual speed, and processing speed.
Data were from the Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) study, a biracial cohort of well-functioning adults aged 70-79 years. Dementia was defined using a prespecified algorithm incorporating medication use, hospital records, and neurocognitive test scores. A pure-tone average in decibels hearing level (dBHL) was calculated in the better hearing ear using thresholds from 0.5 to 4kHz, and HI was defined as normal hearing (≤25 dBHL), mild (26-40 dBHL), and moderate/severe (>40 dBHL). Associations between HI and incident dementia and between HI and cognitive change were modeled using Cox proportional hazards models and linear mixed models, respectively.
Three-hundred eighty seven (20%) participants had moderate/severe HI, and 716 (38%) had mild HI. After adjustment for demographic and cardiovascular factors, moderate/severe audiometric HI (vs. normal hearing) was associated with increased risk of incident dementia over 9 years (hazard ratio: 1.55, 95% confidence interval CI: 1.10, 2.19). Other than poorer baseline memory performance (difference of -0.24 SDs, 95% CI: -0.44, -0.04), no associations were observed between HI and rates of domain-specific cognitive change during 7 years of follow-up.
HI is associated with increased risk of developing dementia in older adults. Randomized trials are needed to determine whether treatment of hearing loss could postpone dementia onset in older adults.
Background
A brief, inexpensive screening test for sarcopenia would be helpful for clinicians and their patients. To screen for persons with sarcopenia, we developed a simple five‐item questionnaire ...(SARC‐F) based on cardinal features or consequences of sarcopenia.
Methods
We investigated the utility of SARC‐F in the African American Health (AAH) study, Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA), and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Internal consistency reliability for SARC‐F was determined using Cronbach's alpha. We evaluated SARC‐F factorial validity using principal components analysis and criterion validity by examining its association with exam‐based indicators of sarcopenia. Construct validity was examined using cross‐sectional and longitudinal differences among those with high (≥4) vs. low (<4) SARC‐F scores for mortality and health outcomes.
Results
SARC‐F exhibited good internal consistency reliability and factorial, criterion, and construct validity. AAH participants with SARC‐F scores ≥ 4 had more Instrumental Activity of Daily Living (IADL) deficits, slower chair stand times, lower grip strength, lower short physical performance battery scores, and a higher likelihood of recent hospitalization and of having a gait speed of <0.8 m/s. SARC‐F scores ≥ 4 in AAH also were associated with 6 year IADL deficits, slower chair stand times, lower short physical performance battery scores, having a gait speed of <0.8 m/s, being hospitalized recently, and mortality. SARC‐F scores ≥ 4 in the BLSA cohort were associated with having more IADL deficits and lower grip strength (both hands) in cross‐sectional comparisons and with IADL deficits, lower grip strength (both hands), and mortality at follow‐up. NHANES participants with SARC‐F scores ≥ 4 had slower 20 ft walk times, had lower peak force knee extensor strength, and were more likely to have been hospitalized recently in cross‐sectional analyses.
Conclusions
The SARC‐F proved internally consistent and valid for detecting persons at risk for adverse outcomes from sarcopenia in AAH, BLSA, and NHANES.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a role in the maintenance and function of neurons. Although persons with Alzheimer's disease have lower cortical levels of BDNF, evidence regarding the ...association between circulating BDNF and cognitive function is conflicting. We sought to determine the correlates of BDNF level and whether BDNF level was prospectively associated with cognitive decline in healthy older adults. We measured serum BDNF near baseline in 912 individuals. Cognitive status was assessed repeatedly with the modified Mini-Mental Status Examination and the Digit Symbol Substitution test over the next 10 years. We evaluated the association between BDNF and cognitive decline with longitudinal models. We also assessed the association between BDNF level and demographics, comorbidities and health behaviors. We found an association between serum BDNF and several characteristics that are also associated with dementia (race and depression), suggesting that future studies should control for these potential confounders. We did not find evidence of a longitudinal association between serum BDNF and subsequent cognitive test trajectories in older adults, although we did identify a potential trend toward a cross-sectional association. Our results suggest that serum BDNF may have limited utility as a biomarker of prospective cognitive decline.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Objectives: To define clinically relevant cutpoints for usual gait speed and to investigate their predictive value for health‐related events in older persons.
Design: Prospective cohort study.
...Setting: Health, Aging and Body Composition Study.
Participants: Three thousand forty‐seven well‐functioning older persons (mean age 74.2).
Measurements: Usual gait speed on a 6‐m course was assessed at baseline. Participants were randomly divided into two groups to identify (Sample A; n=2,031) and then validate (Sample B; n=1,016) usual gait‐speed cutpoints. Rates of persistent lower extremity limitation events (mean follow‐up 4.9 years) were calculated according to gait speed in Sample A. A cutpoint (defining high‐ (<1 m/s) and low risk (≥1 m/s) groups) was identified based on persistent lower extremity limitation events. The predictive value of the identified cutpoints for major health‐related events (persistent severe lower extremity limitation, death, and hospitalization) was evaluated in Sample B using Cox regression analyses.
Results: A graded response was seen between risk groups and health‐related outcomes. Participants in the high‐risk group had a higher risk of persistent lower extremity limitation (rate ratio (RR)=2.20, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.76–2.74), persistent severe lower extremity limitation (RR=2.29, 95% CI=1.63–3.20), death (RR=1.64, 95% CI=1.14–2.37), and hospitalization (RR=1.48, 95% CI=1.02–2.13) than those in the low‐risk group.
Conclusion: Usual gait speed of less than 1 m/s identifies persons at high risk of health‐related outcomes in well‐functioning older people. Provision of a clinically meaningful cutpoint for usual gait speed may facilitate its use in clinical and research settings.
Abstract
Background
Poor olfaction is associated with worse functional performance in older adults, but longitudinal evidence is lacking. We investigated poor olfaction in relation to longitudinal ...changes in physical functioning among community-dwelling older adults.
Method
The analysis included 2 319 participants from the Health, Aging and Body Composition study (aged 71–82 years, 47.9% men, and 37.3% Blacks) who completed the Brief Smell Identification Test in 1999–2000. Olfaction was defined as good (test score 11–12), moderate (9–10), or poor (0–8). Physical functioning was assessed up to 4 times over 8 years, using the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) and the Health Aging and Body Composition Physical Performance Battery (HABCPPB). We conducted joint model analyses and reported the differences in annual declines across olfaction groups.
Results
During the follow-up, compared to those with good olfaction, older adults with poor olfaction had greater annual declines in both the SPPB score (−0.137, 95% CI: −0.186, −0.088) and all its subscales: standing balance (−0.068, 95% CI: −0.091, −0.044), chair stand (−0.046, 95% CI: −0.070, −0.022), and gait speed (−0.022, 95% CI: −0.042, −0.001). A similar observation was made for the HABCPPB score (difference in annual decline: −0.032, 95% CI: −0.042, −0.021). These findings are robust and cannot be explained by measured confounding from demographics, lifestyle factors, and chronic diseases or by potential biases due to death and loss of follow-up. Similar associations were observed across subgroups of sex, race, and self-reported general health status.
Conclusion
This study provides the first epidemiological evidence that poor olfaction predicts a faster decline in physical functioning. Future studies should investigate potential mechanisms.
Abstract
Background
An association between visual impairment and cognitive outcomes has been documented, but there is limited research examining this relationship using multiple measures of vision.
...Methods
Participants included non-demented individuals in Year 3 of the Visual impairment was assessed using visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and stereo acuity. Cognitive function was defined using the digit symbol test and the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination (3MS). Incident cognitive impairment was defined as a 3MS score <80 or a decline >5 points following Year 3. Linear mixed effects models examined longitudinal associations adjusting for year, age, sex, race, education, smoking, depression, diabetes, study site, as well as interaction terms between the vision parameters and years in study, between baseline age and years in study, and quadratic terms of baseline age and years in study. Discrete Cox regression models examined the risk of incident cognitive impairment.
Results
Analyses included 2,444 participants (mean age = 74). Visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and stereo acuity impairments were not associated with statistically significant changes in annual digit symbol test scores over 7 years of follow-up, as compared to those without these impairments. However, visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and stereo acuity impairments were associated with greater declines in annual 3MS scores over 9 years. Participants with impaired visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and stereo acuity had a greater risk of incident cognitive impairment.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and stereo acuity impairments may be risk factors for cognitive decline.
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