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Physical reserve: construct development and predictive utility

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Abstract

Background

Physical reserve (PR) refers to one’s ability to maintain physical functioning despite age, illness, or injury. The measurement and predictive utility of PR, however, are not well established.

Aims

We quantified PR using a residual measurement approach by extracting standardized residuals from gait speed, while accounting for demographic and clinical/disease variables, and used it to predict fall-risk.

Methods

Participants (n = 510; age ≥ 70ys) were enrolled in a longitudinal study. Falls were assessed annually (in-person) and bimonthly (via structured telephone interview).

Results

General Estimating Equations (GEE) revealed that higher baseline PR was associated with reduced odds of reporting falls over repeated assessments in the total sample, and incident falls among those without fall’s history. The protective effect of PR against fall risk remained significant when adjusting for multiple demographic and medical confounders.

Discussion/Conclusion

We propose a novel framework to assessing PR and demonstrate that higher PR is protective against fall-risk in older adults.

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Data availability

The data used in the current study may be requested in writing from the corresponding author.

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Funding

This research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01AG036921).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY, USA

    Catherine O’Brien & Roee Holtzer

  2. Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA

    Roee Holtzer

Authors
  1. Catherine O’Brien
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  2. Roee Holtzer
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Contributions

Literature search (CO); data collection (RH); study design (CO, RH); analysis of data (CO, RH); manuscript preparation (CO); review of manuscript (CO, RH), approval of manuscript submission (CO, RH).

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roee Holtzer.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report in relation to the current article. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Ethics approval

The work described in this manuscript has been executed in adherence with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki).

Informed consent

Participants signed written informed consents in the first in-person study visit.

Institutional review board

Albert Einstein College of Medicine Institutional Review Board approved this study (IRB #: 2010-224).

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O’Brien, C., Holtzer, R. Physical reserve: construct development and predictive utility. Aging Clin Exp Res 35, 1055–1062 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-023-02371-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-023-02371-5

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