Age-related changes of mobility in functionally independent patients

Identification of mobility disorders with special geriatric tools is essential diagnostic component of the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment. Hitherto numerous questionnaires and objective tests to characterize physical activity limitation were elaborated with no single gold standard. The purpose was to compare the association of commonly used mobility tests with age and screening assessment of physical geriatric syndromes. Materials and methods. 130 functionally independent patients aged 50–89 (mean age 71.3 ± 8.8 years) with essential hypertension, II stage, 1–3 degrees were involved in the cross-sectional study. Сomorbid pathology (4.1 ± 0.3 disease/syndrome per pts) was presented mostly by age-related diseases, especially cardiovascular. The SARC-F questionnaire, Desmond Fall Risk Questionnaire, Phenotype Frailty and questionnaire FRAIL were applied for possible geriatric syndromes screening. The battery of tests for mobility assessment included The one-leg balance test with eyes closed (BCY) and eyes open (BOY), The Timed Up and Go times (TUG) test, 6-minute walk test (6MW) and gait speed (GS) as time for 4-meter distance. Results. The strongest correlations (r > 0.50) with age were observed for TUG and BOY, less strong (r > 0.40) — for 6MW and BCY. TUG and 6MW correlated with all mobility parameters with r from 0.50 to 0.62 and from 0.40 to 0.60, respectively. BOY and BCY showed a negative correlation with TUG (r = -0.51 and -0.50, respectively) and a positive correlation with 6MW (r = 0.45 and 0.40, respectively). GS was associated with TUG (r = 0.62) and 6MW (r = -0.50). Summary. Balance duration in BOY was the most reliable predictor of aging, followed by TUG, 6MW and BCY. TUG was strongly associated with all physical performance parameters as well as frailty, fall risk and sarcopenia risk, while 6MW was associated with sarcopenia risk and single-leg balance tests were associated with fall risk.