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White matter hyperintensity volume and impaired mobility among older adults

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Abstract

Gait speed is associated with multiple adverse outcomes of aging. White matter hyperintensities (WMH) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been associated with gait speed, though few studies have examined changes in gait speed over time in population-based studies comprising participants from diverse cultural backgrounds. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between a decline in gait speed and total and regional WMH volumes in a community-based study of aging. Participants (n = 701) underwent gait-speed measurement via a 4-m walk test at the time of initial enrollment and MRI at a second time interval (mean 4.7 [SD = 0.5] years apart). Logistic regression was used to examine the association between large WMH volume and regional WMH volume with gait speed <0.5 m/s (abnormal speed), and a transition to abnormal gait speed. Analyses were adjusted for demographic and clinical factors. Large WMH volume was associated with abnormal gait speed and a transition to abnormal gait speed between the two visits, but not after adjustment for modifiable vascular disease risk factors. Increased frontal lobe WMH volume was associated with abnormal gait speed and transition to abnormal gait speed, but not in adjusted models. WMH are associated with slowing of gait over time. Prevention of WMH presents a potential strategy for the prevention of gait speed decline.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health [AG037212, AG007232, AG029949, and AG034189]. JZW was funded by K23 NS 073104. The NIH played no role in the design, execution, analysis and interpretation of data, or writing of the study.

Conflicts of interest

None.

Ethical standard

All human studies must state that they have been approved by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Joshua Z. Willey, Nikolaos Scarmeas, Richard Mayeux & Adam M. Brickman

  2. Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain, PS Box 16, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 630 West 168th Street, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Nikolaos Scarmeas, Frank A. Provenzano, Richard Mayeux & Adam M. Brickman

  3. Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Nikolaos Scarmeas, Richard Mayeux & Adam M. Brickman

  4. Department of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    José A. Luchsinger

  5. Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    José A. Luchsinger & Richard Mayeux

  6. Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Richard Mayeux

Authors
  1. Joshua Z. Willey
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  2. Nikolaos Scarmeas
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  3. Frank A. Provenzano
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  4. José A. Luchsinger
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  5. Richard Mayeux
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  6. Adam M. Brickman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adam M. Brickman.

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Willey, J.Z., Scarmeas, N., Provenzano, F.A. et al. White matter hyperintensity volume and impaired mobility among older adults. J Neurol 260, 884–890 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-012-6731-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-012-6731-z

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