Creatinine to cystatin C ratio is associated with kinetic gait characteristics measured by a wearable sensor system in older adults: a cross-sectional study

Creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio (CCR) is recognized as a robust biomarker of muscle mass. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between this biochemical muscle-related biomarker and multidimensional gait characteristics obtained from a wearable sensor system in older adults. This area has been rarely examined in population-based studies beyond conventional gait speed. A total of 652 adults aged 60 years and older were recruited from five communities in Beijing. Periodic, kinetic, and spatiotemporal gait parameters during walking were measured using a wearable sensor system. Blood levels of creatinine and cystatin C were detected from serum samples. Spearman correlation coefficients and multiple linear regression analyses were used to examine the associations between CCR and gait parameters. The mean age of the participants was 70.56 ± 6.09 years, and 56.90% were female. The median (P25, P75) of CCR in our study is 1.06 (0.89, 1.29). After adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, smoking, alcohol consumption, habitual exercise, body mass index, impaired activities of daily living, cognitive function, depressive symptoms, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidaemia, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, CCR (per interquartile range increase) was negatively associated with swing time (β = −7.415, P value = 0.026) and positively associated with thigh acceleration (β = 0.034, P value = 0.025), thigh swing work (β = 0.019, P value = 0.009), ground reaction force (β = 0.034, P value = 0.015), foot landing control force (β = 0.095, P value = 0.007), and foot-off angle (β = 0.847, P value = 0.039). CCR is associated with gait quality in older adults, particularly in kinetic gait parameters. Cohort studies are warranted to further confirm the relationships in the future. Not applicable.