Association Between the Loss of Gait Harmony and Cognitive Impairment: Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Functional limitations and disabilities have been associated with a decrease in cognitive function due to increasing age. Gait performance and cognitive function have been associated with gait variability in executive function, the phase domain in memory, and gait abnormalities in cognitive decline. OBJECTIVE: Our study aimed to investigate whether gait harmony was associated with cognitive function in the older adult population. Moreover, we aimed to investigate whether gait harmony was associated with cognitive function and explore each cognitive function in a specific harmonic state. METHODS: The study population included 510 adults aged ≥60 years who visited the Department of Neurology at the Veterans Health Service Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea. Gait data were collected using a 3D motion capture device with a wireless inertial measurement unit system. For cognitive function assessments, we used the Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery-Core test, which evaluates the level of cognitive function or impairment in 5 cognitive domains. RESULTS: In general, the association between the Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery-Core tests and the stance-to-swing ratio in the >1.63 ratio group yielded lower β coefficients than those in the 1.50-1.63 ratio group. After adjustment for confounders, the odds ratio (OR) for the Digit Symbol Coding test (adjusted OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.20-0.88) and the Korean version of the Color Word Stroop Test: 60 seconds (adjusted OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.29-0.89) for frontal and executive function were significantly lower for the >1.63 ratio group than the reference group. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the gait phase ratio is a valuable indicator of walking deficits and may also be associated with cognitive impairment in older adults.