Relationship Between Physical Performance and Peripheral Arterial Diseases in Different Age Groups of Chinese Community-Dwelling Older Adults

AIMS: This study aimed to examine the relationship between physical performance and peripheral artery disease (PAD) in different age groups of Chinese older adults. METHODS: We enrolled 1357 relatively healthy ≥ 65 years old participants of Chinese ethnicity. We classified the participants into two age categories, the pre-old group (65-74 years, n=968) and the old group (≥ 75 years, n=389). We assessed the cross-sectional association of the ankle-brachial index (ABI), which is used for the classification of patients with PAD (ABI ≤ 0.9). Physical performance mainly focused on muscle strength, mobility, and balance, which were measured via hand grip, 4 m walking speed, and the Timed Up and Go Test. RESULTS: A total of 125 (9.2%) patients met the diagnostic criteria and were defined as having PAD. After multivariate adjustment, we found that grip strength and 4 m walking speed were correlated negatively with PAD (odds ratio (OR)=0.953, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.919-0.989; OR=0.296, 95% CI=0.093-0.945) in pre-old participants, whereas balance (OR=1.058, 95% CI=1.007-1.112) was correlated positively with PAD only in older participants. CONCLUSION: Our study further confirmed the association between physical performance and PAD in community-dwelling older Chinese adults. Muscle strength and mobility correlated negatively with PAD, and balance was positively associated with PAD in older participants. These findings might help with better early screening and management of PAD.