Gait speed and body mass index: Results from the AMI study

BACKGROUND: While physical frailty and malnutrition/obesity (parameters easily measured by a nurse) are not the same, older persons who are malnourished/obese are more likely to be frail and there is a potential overlap between these conditions. The objective was to examine the relationship between gait speed (GS) and body mass index (BMI) in men and women aged 75 years and older. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis. SETTING, PARTICIPANTS: Data from the Aging Multidisciplinary Investigation (AMI), a French prospective cohort study with participants randomly selected from the farmer Health Insurance rolls. MEASUREMENTS: Usual GS was measured over a 4 meters-track. BMI was categorized using clinical cut-points for European populations: (e.g, <20.0 kg/m(2); 20.0–24.9 kg/m(2); 25.0–29.9 kg/m(2); 30.0–34.9 kg/m(2); ≥35.0 kg/m(2)). RESULTS: The current analyses were performed in 449 participants. Mean age was 81 years. Being malnourished/obese was significantly associated with slow GS. Unadjusted and age-adjusted models showed that underweight, overweight and obesity statuses were significantly associated with slow GS for both women (0.83m/s [0.61; 1.04], 0.87m/s [0.72; 1.02], 0.70 m/s [0.41; 0.98], respectively) and men (0.83m/s [0.61; 1.04], 1.11m/s [1.03; 1.20], 0.97m/s [0.75; 1.19], respectively). CONCLUSION: Malnourished/obese are associated with slow GS in older persons. These variables could be contributed at comprehensively and complementarily assessing the older person.