Self-Assessed Health Status, Walking Speed and Mortality in Older Mexican-Americans
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Discussion
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Implication
Prospective cohort study reveals self-assessed health and walking speed independently predict mortality in older Mexican-Americans, indicating limited additive prognostic value.
Key Points
- To evaluate the independent and additive prognostic value of self-assessed health status and walking speed for predicting mortality in older Mexican-Americans.
- Analyzed 2,139 Mexican-Americans aged ≥65 years from the Hispanic Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly followed for 5.8 years.
- Assessed self-rated health via a four-level Likert scale and measured walking speed over an 8-foot track at a safe and comfortable pace.
- Evaluated mortality risk and predictive accuracy using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.
- Participants reporting poor health had higher mortality risks than those reporting excellent health (HR 1.52, 95% CI 1.10–2.10).
- Slow walking speed (<0.29 m/s) significantly increased mortality risk relative to walking speed ≥0.81 m/s (HR 1.68, 95% CI 1.27–2.24).
- Self-assessed health and walking speed were weakly correlated (Pearson's r=0.069, P=0.001), and combining them did not significantly increase ROC area under the curve compared to either measure alone.
Cite This Study
Cesari et al. (2008) studied this question.