White Matter Hyperintensities Are Associated with Slower Gait Speed in Older Adults Without Dementia

Slow gait speed is associated with poor health outcomes in aging, but the relationship between cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) pathologies and gait speed in aging is not well understood. We investigated the relationships between CSVD imaging markers and gait speed during simple (normal pace walking NPW) and complex (walking while talking WWT) as both measures are associated with shared health outcomes such as falls, frailty, disability, mortality, and dementia.